


A Story of Bellatrix Black

by G1997



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 12:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 40,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17304944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/G1997/pseuds/G1997
Summary: I started writing this story for my friends 21st birthday ... It turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated!! I hope you enjoy it!





	1. 1st September 1962

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this story for my friends 21st birthday ... It turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated!! I hope you enjoy it!

Bellatrix Black awoke with a start that morning. She lay in bed for a moment, but as the sleepy feeling left her, she realised. She realised what day it was. September the first. The day she started at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was the first of her sisters to start at Hogwarts, and she was so excited. Her letter had arrived two and a half months previously, as she had known it would, having been able to perform magic since she was a little girl. Her parents were Cygnus and Druella Black, and although they didn't show it, Bella knew that they were proud of her. She was almost certain that she would be in Slytherin – all of her family had been sorted into Slytherin House. All of her aunts and uncles, her grandparents and obviously her own parents. 

They had gone up to London shortly after she had received her letter, to get everything that she would need for school. Everything was brand new, from her books, to her cauldron, to her robes and of course her wand. It had been so exciting to go to Diagon Alley to buy all of her school things, but having been properly brought up in a respectable wizarding home, she knew better than to show any outward emotion. So she and her two sisters, who were nine and seven, walked around the shops without smiling or getting excited when they saw something they really wanted, they simply walked up to their parents and told them, with an attitude that some may have mistaken for coolness or arrogance. But they knew better. They knew that if they behaved like this they would be rewarded, and if they didn't they would be punished. In the privacy of their own home, obviously their parents had an image to maintain, but they would be punished. So the girls had learned very quickly to follow the rules that their parents set, but they didn't mind. They already knew that they were unbelievably rich, that their parents could afford the best for them, and regularly did spend extravagant amounts of money on each of their children.

Bella walked down the many flights of stairs that led from her bedroom to the dining room. Her parents were already sat down, but her sisters were not. Their House Elf had already filled all the available space on the dining room table with various trays of breakfast food. Bella saw to her delight that there were pancakes! That was her favourite breakfast! She loved having pancakes with banana and chocolate or strawberries and chocolate but her absolute favourite was cinnamon sugar, and she could see a large bowlful right in front of her chair. She sat down at the table, but didn't make a start on breakfast. In the Black household, you didn't start eating until everyone was present, the food being kept warm by magic. The only exception to this rule was if someone was ill, or not in the house. So Bella had to wait for her sisters to come downstairs for breakfast before she could start. After about ten minutes both Andromeda and Narcissa had come downstairs, so breakfast could begin. Bella had a total of seven pancakes – two each of banana and chocolate and strawberry and chocolate, but she had three that were filled to bursting with cinnamon sugar. It was an amazing way to start the day. 

As everyone else had finished their breakfasts, Bella asked to be excused so that she could ensure that everything was in order in preparation for their departure for Kings Cross Station. As she climbed the stairs up to her bedroom, Bella could not help feeling excited, and for the briefest of moments, her emotions were visible on her face. Everything that they had bought in Diagon Alley was packed neatly in her trunk, which had the Black family crest stamped upon it. Her parents had also bought her a large tawny owl, which she had named Cliodna, after a medieval witch. She stroked her owl, which was securely locked in her cage, ready for the journey to Hogwarts. Bella, seeing that everything was ready for her departure, left her bedroom and walked back down the stairs to tell her parents that she was ready. Her father called for the House Elf, who promptly brought Bella's school things downstairs, ready to go. Bella wondered how they would be getting to Kings Cross Station – it was something that they had never discussed before today. But she knew better than to ask. Her parents had difficult moods to gage, so she didn't like to do anything that might provoke them if they were in the wrong mood. It was different if they were outside the house, as her parents had a reputation to uphold, but she always stepped a little lightly around the family home. So she just wondered, without asking, how they would get across London. She knew that they would never have done anything to associate themselves with the muggles, as that could cause people to speculate that they sympathised, and potentially might become blood traitors. That was something that her parents would never allow. They were a pureblood family, part of the Sacred Twenty Eight, so to be associated with muggles in anyway would be a social catastrophe. The time was ten o'clock, and Bella knew that she had to be on the train to Hogwarts by eleven, which didn't give the family much time to travel across London, especially with her heavy trunk full of school things. The family had gone to sit in the drawing room, and Bella had gone with them. She was starting to get anxious as to how they would get to the station in time to go, but she didn't show it. She knew that her parents must have a plan, even though she didn't know what it was. So she sat drinking her tea in silence, with her father, mother and two younger sisters, all sat on the comfortable chairs that were scattered around the room. 

At ten forty-five, her parents stood up. Obediently, Bella, Andromeda and Narcissa stood up too. They walked to the front door. Her father looked at each of his daughters in turn. "We are going to apparate to Kings Cross", he said. Now that he had said it, it seemed obvious to Bella. Of course they would apparate. It meant that they would not have to interact with muggles, as they could just apparate onto the platform. She had never apparated before, and neither had her sisters, but they accepted that this was the best way for them to travel today. They all held hands, and her father twisted his right foot. Bella was pulled into blackness, just able to feel Andromeda and Narcissa holding onto each hand. She could not breathe. Her whole body was being squeezed, and just as suddenly, she could breathe. And her body felt normal again. She breathed a sigh of relief. They had made it. She looked around and was confused for a moment. They were quite clearly still in muggle London. But then her parents ushered the three girls towards a brick wall, and they just walked through it. This was more like the scene that she had expected – men and women in robes, as well as some in odd clothes that the muggles must wear, and the scarlet steam train, with the words 'Hogwarts Express' painted on the side. Bella relaxed for a second, before realising that they had left her trunk in the entrance way of their house. But that same moment, their House Elf appeared with her trunk. Her father ordered the Elf to place the trunk on the train, and then leave to start preparing lunch for the rest of the family. She obeyed. Bella looked around. There were many other young witches and wizards saying goodbye to their parents, and getting on the train ready to depart. There was a clock on one of the walls, and Bella saw that it was nearly five to eleven.

"Goodbye Bellatrix" her father said. He never called her anything but her given name. Her mother didn't either, unless they were completely alone. Then her mother would call her Bella, but she didn't mind really.  
"Goodbye Bellatrix" her mother was saying now. "Enjoy your first term at Hogwarts, won't you?"  
"Bella gave her mother a hug, whispering "I will. I love you" in her ear.

Her father did not approve of verbal love. He didn't really like public displays of affection, past himself holding Druella's hand, but Bella knew that today was different. She may not get a hug from her father, but he wouldn't stop the rest of the family hugging her goodbye. Next it was the turn of Andromeda and Narcissa. They were both sad that they couldn't go to Hogwarts too, but they had said their goodbyes yesterday and Bella had assured them that it wouldn't be long before they would be able to join her getting on the train. So today they just hugged each other very tightly, before Bella released herself, promised to write as soon as she could and got on the train. She waved goodbye one last time and then went to find the carriage with her trunk on. She knew that her father would have disapproved of her standing at a window waving goodbye to her family, and she knew that her mother and sisters would have understood. She had walked a fair way down the train now, with many of the Hogwarts students saying their final goodbyes on the platform, or waving to their families from a window. Bella found her trunk, about halfway down the train, so she went in and sat down. There was no one else in the carriage yet, so Bella sat quietly, waiting for someone to join her once the train was starting to leave. After a couple of minutes, the whistle sounded. Bella could see that the passage way was becoming a lot more crowded as everyone made their way onto the train. Then the train jerked, and they were on their way.


	2. On the train

Within a couple of minutes, the passage way started to empty, as people found the carriages with their trunks in. A couple of minutes later, there was a knock on the carriage door. Bella looked up. She was still alone, but it sounded as if someone was going to join her. She saw a young girl with bright blue eyes and blonde hair. The girl opened the door.

"Can I join you?" the girl asked.

"Yes" Bella replied. "I'm Bellatrix".

"I'm Penelope" the girl replied.

The two girls sat in silence for a couple of minutes before the door opened again.

"Hello. Is there a spare seat in this carriage? The rest of the train is really full." It was a boy who had asked this time.

"Sure. Help yourself." Bella replied.

"I'm Joshua." The boy said. He had light brown curly hair. Bella thought that he looked a little untidy given that this was his first day at Hogwarts. She didn't say anything though, as that was how she had been brought up. Penelope and Joshua had struck up a conversation, and Bella wanted to join in. She just didn't know how. She guessed that they weren't pureblood, as she didn't understand a lot of what they were saying. All of the conversations she had had involved nothing about football or record players, so she didn't know how she would be able to join in.

"So do you have older siblings at Hogwarts, or are you the first to go?" Bella asked. She hoped that this was a sensible change of topic. Penelope and Joshua looked a bit surprised that she had asked a question. She guessed that they thought she wasn't much of a conversationalist, which was true. At home she was expected to only talk if she was spoken to, and never take up much of a conversation.

"I don't." It was Joshua who had replied. "Actually, I'm the first person from my family to go to Hogwarts, according to my parents anyway. It's so exciting! How about you?"

Bella was taken aback. What would her father say if he knew that she was sat with a Mudblood? Oh well. There was nothing she could do about it now. She couldn't just get up and walk out of the carriage – both Joshua and Penelope had said that the rest of the train was full. She would just make sure that she wasn't too friendly with Joshua for the rest of the journey, and not speak to him unless she had to once she got to Hogwarts. "Oh, I'm the first of my siblings to come, but all of my family has come to Hogwarts."

"Oh that's so cool!" Joshua said "You must know so much about everything! The school, the magic, the whole wizarding world!" It was clear to Bella that this boy was really excited.

"Not really" she replied "I know some things, but my parents have never really spoken to me about Hogwarts. I know that it's a castle and we learn how to control our magic and do spells and fly." Bella had said all of this extremely quickly. She stopped talking, noticing the awe in Joshua's eyes, and not wanting to have a full conversation with him. "How about you Penelope?" She changed the subject quickly, wanting to stop talking herself. She wasn't used to people listening so intently when she talked, and she found it unnerving. Bella was much more used to listening or siting in silence.

"Well, my older brother is already here – he's going into his third year this year, and I have a younger sister who should be starting next year." Penelope replied.

"Ah what house is your brother in?" Bella asked Penelope.

"He's in Ravenclaw" Penelope replied.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Joshua asked.

"Well my mum was in Ravenclaw and my dad was in Hufflepuff, so I expect I'll be in one of those two" Penelope replied. "How about you Bella?"

"My whole family has been in Slytherin, so that's probably where I will go" Bella replied. She could see that Penelope was now looking at her a little differently. Joshua clearly had no understanding of what being in Slytherin meant, being a Mudblood. It was quite nice that he wasn't looking at her any differently to before she had said that she would probably be in Slytherin. She didn't really know how to carry on the conversation from here, so she looked out of the window at the countryside flashing past. They were passing fields upon fields, and there were mountains in the distance. It was starting to get dark now as well. Bella wondered how much longer it would take to get to Hogwarts. She could tell that Penelope was feeling slightly uncomfortable sitting with a probable Slytherin, just as she was feeling uncomfortable sitting with a Mudblood. Ironically, Joshua was the only one in the carriage who didn't seem uncomfortable, since he was the only one of the three who had no idea of what was facing them when they arrived at the castle. 

Joshua and Penelope had started talking again. Bella didn't mind. She was quite happy to sit looking out of the window, since she wasn't used to talking so much anyway. She sat looking out of the window until it had grown dark outside and there was no more view to look at. She turned to face the carriage again, since it would have been strange to continue looking out of the window at the non-existent view. Penelope was still looking at her oddly. Bella wondered why that made her feel strange. She couldn't pinpoint what emotion seeing Penelope's face made her feel. She didn't like it whatever it was. It was something she'd never felt before. The carriage door opened again. There was a Hufflepuff prefect standing there, Bella could see her badge pinned to the front of her robes.

"We're almost at Hogwarts" the prefect said "you three should put your robes on and start getting ready."

"Thanks" the three of them chorused at the same time. Bella looked down. She realised that she hadn't put her robes on once she had got on the train as she had intended to. Joshua stood up.

"I'll leave the carriage whilst you two get changed" he said. He opened his trunk, picked up a set of robes and left.

Bella and Penelope looked slightly awkward as they opened their trunks to get their robes out too. They both turned away from each other and began to get changed. Bella had undressed and was about to put her robes on when she heard Penelope gasp. She turned around quickly. Penelope was already fully dressed in her Hogwarts robes and had turned back around. "Do you mind? I'm not ready yet!" Bella began to turn around again to put her robes on when Penelope spoke.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realise that I changed quickly. What happened to you?"

Bella was confused. "What do you mean?" She asked Penelope, still facing away and putting her robes on.

"Well, it's just that you've got a lot of scars. It looks painful."

Bella had finished getting changed now. "Oh yeah. I guess I do have a lot of scars" She said simply.

Penelope obviously felt rather awkward again, so she said nothing more as the two girls sat down on their seats again. A couple of minutes later there was another knock on the door and it opened fractionally. "Are you two dressed yet? Can I come in?" It was Joshua who was also fully dressed in the Hogwarts robes.

"Yes. Come in." Penelope said. Bella noticed that she seemed a lot quieter now than she had been for the rest of the journey. The three of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Oh look. There are lights up ahead. We must be approaching the station." Bella said. She had resumed looking out of the window, even though it was so dark that she had been unable to see anything for the last couple of minutes. Both Penelope and Joshua stood up and made their way over to the window. Bella could feel the train slowing down now – they were definitely nearly at their destination. They all began to gather their belongings, as the train drew to a stop. A Ravenclaw prefect opened the train door, and got off. The three of them followed.

"FIRS'-YEARS OVER HERE. FIRS'-YEARS. FIRS'-YEARS COME OVER TO ME" A huge man was calling the first years over to him. Bella suspected that he had giant blood – he was absolutely massive! She wondered why Hogwarts was employing him if he did have giant blood. Giants were really dangerous, that's what her parents had always said anyway. They had told her that it was a great thing that the giants had been driven out of the country because they were so violent. Quite a crowd had already gathered around him, and she, Joshua and Penelope made their way over. "Mind yer step now! Firs'-years follow me! Is this everyone then?" the man asked. Bella wondered why. How were they to know whether all of the first years had congregated in this corner of the station platform? The man carried on talking. "We're going to be going over to the castle on boats – it's no mor'n four to a boat when we get down to the shore." 

They began to make their way off of the station platform, down towards the pebbly shore. "Yeh'll be able to see the castle in a sec" the man was saying, and a couple of seconds later they could. The castle was huge, with many windows, whose lights were flickering. Bella guessed that the fires were dying down, and weren't going to be replenished for the rest of the evening. There was a sea of boats waiting for them, and they all began to climb into them. Bella sat in a boat with Joshua, Penelope and a boy who Bella didn't know. "Everyone in? Right then – FORWARD!" They all sat in the boats in silence, and the boats magically began making their way out into what Bella could now see was a lake. "Mind yer heads everyone" the man called after a few minutes "we're going through this tunnel 'ere." No one but him needed to mind their head Bella thought, the students in the boats were all so small that they would probably only have hit their heads if they had stood on the seats. The boats had come to a stop in a large cave, with a slope leading up to a gigantic pair of wooden doors. They all made their way out of the boats as the tall man strode up to the doors and knocked. They opened. "The firs'-years Professor McGonagall" he said to someone who was stood just outside of Bella's view.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here" replied a stern female voice. It reminded Bella of her mother's voice, of someone who wasn't to be messed with, but who was also fair and would listen if you had a problem. "Follow me please" she said addressing the first years who were standing in a huddle before her. They all followed her down a long corridor to a small room in the main entrance way. Bella could see the Great Hall where all the other students were seated along four long tables. She presumed that there was one table for each house, but before she could see anything else, she had entered the small chamber off of the corridor. "The start of term feast will begin momentarily, but before that, you must be sorted. There are four houses – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Whilst you are at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family – you will have lessons together, eat at the same table in the Great Hall, and spend time in the same common room. Each house has a noble history. Doing well will earn your house points, while breaking the rules will lose your house points, and the house with the most points at the end of the year will win the house cup, which is a highly coveted award. Now the sorting ceremony is ready to begin, so please follow me."


	3. The Sorting

They all followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall and made their way through the middle of the tables to a long table at the furthest end of the hall. Bella could see that this was where the teachers sat with Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, in the middle. Her parents had told her about him – he loved Mudbloods and muggles, and apparently since he had become headmaster, the school had gone downhill. Professor McGonagall was now placing an old hat on a stool, and everyone in the Great Hall was looking at it with great expectation, so Bella joined them in looking at the old, rather disgusting looking hat. After a couple of seconds of silence, a tear just above the rim opened and the hat began to speak. 

"There once were four witches and wizards who wanted to teach magic, they were called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor wanted to teach those who were brave like him, Ravenclaw wanted to teach those who were wise like her, Slytherin wanted to teach those who were pure of blood, like him, while Hufflepuff took the rest, believing that any child should be able to be taught …" The hat carried on telling the story of the school, but Bella had stopped listening. This was one thing that her parents had taught her about Hogwarts. She allowed her mind to wonder about what being taught at Hogwarts would be like, and was enjoying thinking about flying lessons – she had been unable to learn in Muggle London – when she suddenly realised that the Hat had gone silent. Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a long piece of parchment, read the first line, and looked up at the waiting students.

"Black, Bellatrix" Professor McGonagall called out. She was the first to be called. She made her way to the stool and sat on it. Professor McGonagall placed the Hat on her head.

"Well now, this is interesting. Hmm let's see here. When I sorted your ancestors, I knew immediately that they belonged in Slytherin, but you're different. Yes. Very tricky, hmmm. You've got an amazing mind - smart, quick-witted and astute. You're also very loyal and hardworking, which would make you a good Hufflepuff."

Bella's heart sank because she knew that her parents would disown her if she was put in Hufflepuff. "Please not Hufflepuff. Please not Hufflepuff. Please … no. I don't want my parents to hate me!" She thought. The Hat was silent for a minute or so, as if it were considering her plea.

"Okay then, it had better be SLYTHERIN" The Hat yelled this last word, and Bella knew that the entirety of the Great Hall had heard this. She was relieved that the Hat had taken what she had thought into consideration. She got up from the stool and made her way over to the far right of the hall where the Slytherin table were all clapping and cheering for her. She sat down next to a short, brown haired girl, and smiled at her before looking back towards Professor McGonagall. She was in Slytherin. This wasn't a surprise – she had told Joshua and Penelope that she probably would be, but somehow it didn't feel right. The Hat pondering whether she should be in Hufflepuff had made her wonder whether the odd feeling she had been experiencing all day was actually because she didn't feel as though she should be in Slytherin. Whether perhaps she disagreed with her parents beliefs. But the hat had put her in Slytherin. So what did that mean for her? Were her parents right and she needed to be among like-minded people to see this or was it the other way around? Did she need to be around people who would challenge her beliefs? But then to be around people with completely contrasting views for seven years? That would be really challenging. 

Bella didn't feel like a proud pure-blood who was supreme over all other people – Penelope's reaction when she had said that she would likely become a Slytherin had rattled her. Penelope didn't know her, but she had made a judgement about her simply because her family were all Slytherins. Penelope had assumed that Bella, like her family, would hate muggles and Mudbloods and feel superior to anyone who didn't have purely wizarding blood, but Bella didn't know whether that was what she believed. Yes that was what her parents believed, and what she had been taught all of her life, but that didn't necessarily mean that she thought it was right. And now she had been sorted into Slytherin, probably affirming Penelope's assumptions about her, meaning that it was unlikely for them to become friends. Her parents definitely wouldn't approve if that happened! But right now was not the moment to dwell on her beliefs – the rest of the first years were being sorted and then they would eat. Bella didn't know what dinner would be, but she was ravenous so didn't really mind.

"Dingle, Penelope" Professor McGonagall called. Penelope went up, sat on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the Hat on her head. The Hat was silent for a couple of minutes, but Bella knew that it would be having a conversation with Penelope that only she could hear. She wondered what they were saying – the Hat was probably deliberating between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, as those were the houses that Penelope had said she would probably be in. Privately Bella hoped that she would be sorted into Ravenclaw, as she knew that her parents would be much more accepting of a Ravenclaw friend than a Hufflepuff.

"RAVENCLAW" the Hat suddenly announced to the hall, and Bella nearly began to clap and cheer along with the Ravenclaw table, but she suddenly noticed that no-one else at the Slytherin table was clapping, so she decided that it would be best not to. She decided to try and catch Penelope's eye and smile at her once she had sat down, but she chose a seat where her back faced Bella. Bella hoped that this was not a deliberate decision, and that Penelope would still be friendly to her, despite their being placed in different houses. It had been a few minutes since Penelope had been sorted and Bella had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't paid much attention to the sorting, clapping when those around her did, but not listening to the names.

"Payne, Joshua" she heard Professor McGonagall call out. This pulled her out of her reverie, and she watched as Joshua sat on the stool and the Hat was placed on his head. Just as it had been for Penelope, the Hat was taking some time to announce Joshua's house. Bella wondered what the discussion was about this time.

"HUFFLEPUFF" the Hat called out this time. Bella was slightly disappointed, as she knew that it would be much harder to be friends with Joshua if he was in Hufflepuff, but she smiled at him as he caught her eye when he was making his way over to the Hufflepuff table. He sat so that he could see her, and smiled back. The tables were next to each other, so they would have been able to have a conversation if the room hadn't been so noisy with the continuing cheers and claps from the Hufflepuffs.

Professor McGonagall continued to call out names, starting with "Peasegood, Arnold." Bella sat in silence, clapping when the Slytherins around her did, but still not paying that much attention to the sorting. She was wondering why Slytherins seemed to be hated by all of the students at Hogwarts, when they knew nothing about each other. As soon as she had said that she would probably be in Slytherin, Penelope had become less friendly towards her and now that it had been confirmed that she was a Slytherin, Penelope hadn't even looked at her. She and Joshua were the only people that Bella knew at Hogwarts, and although she knew that she would meet others, she didn't want all of her friends to just be Slytherins. If they were, how would she learn about different families who weren't necessarily pureblood? How would she learn about Mudbloods who didn't know that they were wizards or witches until they received their Hogwarts letter? She knew that her parents wouldn't approve of these wonderings, but Bella was curious and the only way that she would satisfy this curiosity would be to ask questions. She could only hope that she would have a lesson with Penelope, where they would be able to talk. It seemed that the sorting had come to an end, as the Great Hall had become extremely quiet and Professor Dumbledore had stood up.

"I just have a couple of words to say before the start of the feast – I will keep it brief as I know you must all be hungry" Professor Dumbledore was saying, "help yourselves!" There was some scattered laughter around the Great hall, and the table in front of Bella was suddenly filled with dishes that were full of many different foods. There was shepherds pie, roast meats of different varieties, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, curry and many different vegetables. Bella helped herself to some roast beef, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables. The first year boy who was sat next to her had heaped his plate high with many different foods, whilst the girl who was on her other side had helped herself to some roast chicken with all the trimmings. Bella decided to talk to the girl on her right.

"Hello" she said.

"Hello" the girl replied "How are you?"

"I'm well thank you, how are you?" Bella replied

"I'm very well too, thank you. My name is Dolores."

"It is lovely to meet you" Bella said, not knowing whether she truly meant it. The girl did not seem as though she wanted to be friendly, but more that Bella would be a good ally to have. Bella wasn't sure whether Dolores would be a good person to befriend but since they were sat together for the duration of the feast, she decided that she would have to remain polite and friendly for the rest of the evening at least. "So what year are you in?" she asked, hoping that this would continue their conversation.

"I'm in my third year now" Dolores replied.

She had an unnaturally quiet and breathy voice, as though she were doing it on purpose. Bella found it extremely irritating. They continued a rather forced conversation for the rest of their meal, and the more they spoke, the less Bella liked Dolores. She seemed cool and distant, as though she didn't care about anyone or anything, and Bella got the impression that the girl didn't have many friends. This made her feel sorry for the girl for a moment – she could not imagine growing up and having no-one to talk to – at least Bella had had her sisters to keep each other company. Then she remembered how uncomfortable conversing with the girl made her, and there definitely was something that made Bella distrust the girl. They didn't talk much over dessert, and Bella began to talk to the boy on her left. His name was Gilbert Warrington, and like her, his whole family had been in Slytherin. He seemed to be more genuine than Dolores, and as they spoke over dessert, Bella decided that she liked him. She hoped that they could become friends.

Everyone must have finished eating pudding because Professor Dumbledore had stood up again. "I have a couple of announcements to make now that we have eaten. First years please stay out of the Forbidden Forest, and some of the older students would do well to remember this too! If you would like to try out for your house's quidditch team, please speak to your head of house. Finally, Mr Filch, the caretaker, has put up a list of banned items on his door. Those are all of the notices, so I now suggest that you all go to bed, as it's been a long day." The benches scraped back as everyone began to get up, and the prefects began calling to the first years, telling them to follow them to their dormitories. Bella, Gilbert and the other first year Slytherins follows their male prefect out of the Great Hall, with their female prefect following behind them making sure that no-one got left behind. They went out of the hall, and down some stairs.


	4. The first night at Hogwarts

"The Slytherin dormitories are down here in the dungeons" the male prefect was saying. "My name is Rabastan Lestrange by the way" he said "please come to myself or Matilda Dunstone, the fifth year Slytherin Prefects, any of the other prefects who we'll introduce to you in due course or our Head of House, Professor Slughorn if you have any problems. Obviously your first point of call would be the prefects from Slytherin, but if necessary any of the prefects from any house will help you." They had made their way down several corridors in the torch lit dungeons as the prefect had been speaking, but now they stopped. Bella did not understand why. There was no door here, no painting or tapestry that might hide a secret passageway. "Salazar" Rabastan said. Bella, along with most of the group of first year students gasped as a section of the wall disappeared, leaving an entrance into what must be the Slytherin Common Room. They all made their way inside. 

The room was long and low, and was clearly underground. It looked as though the room was under the lake, and there was a glass wall at the far end of the room. There was also an extremely elaborate mantelpiece with a warm fire crackling. Some of the other Slytherin students were sat in carved chairs around the fire. Rabastan was talking again. "During the day, some of the creatures in the lake come up to the window to see what we're up to. The mermaids find it especially interesting, and most of us can sign with them and have conversations. We'll teach you if you want to talk to the mermaids. Right, now the boys dormitories are over to your left, through the door. There will be a sign on one of the doors saying 'first years'. The girls dormitories are through the door on your right. Again there will be a sign on the door." The first year students split and made their way to their dormitories. There were about 15 girls and 20 boys that Bella could see. The girls went through the door and along another corridor, past several doors before they came to the one which had 'first years' written on it. They walked through it. There was what looked like a smaller common room with three doors leading off of it.

"There are three bedrooms each with five beds in them. This area is your communal area where you can get to know each other. Now I suggest that you get off to bed, as it's been a long day. Breakfast tomorrow morning is served from seven until ten as it is Sunday. During the week breakfast is served from six thirty until eight thirty, to enable you to get ready for your first class which starts at nine." It was Matilda, their prefect, who was telling them this. The girls made their way over to the doors. There was a list of names on the doors, showing which of them were in each room. Bella was in the second room with four girls called Glenda, Doris, Rosalind and Melinda. They stayed up late that night talking and getting to know each other; the other girls all came from pureblood families, so Bella knew that her parents would be happy, but she still felt slightly unnerved by how she had been feeling all day.

They all eventually fell asleep, and it felt like no time had passed when Bella awoke. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nine o'clock. She didn't remember ever waking up so late at home, but equally she had never gone to bed as late as she did last night. None of the other girls were awake yet. Bella wasn't sure whether to wake them up so that they could all go to breakfast together, or just leave them to sleep. She decided to get ready to leave and then see if the others were awake when she was dressed. She picked up some robes and walked into the bathroom that led off of their room. She guessed that the other two bedrooms also had an attached bathroom. She turned on the shower and stood there for a couple of minutes, trying to wake herself up a bit, before washing and getting out of the shower. She got dried and dressed, and was brushing her hair when there was a knock on the door.

"Can I come in Bella?" It was Melinda who was asking.

"Yeah sure. I'm just brushing my hair" Bella replied. The door opened and Melinda walked in. She had tousled bed hair and looked as if she had just woken up. "How did you sleep?" Bella asked politely.

"Really well thank you. The beds are so comfortable aren't they?" She replied.

"Yeah they're amazing!" Said Bella "I'll leave you to it then" and she walked out of the bathroom to find that the other girls were all awake and getting ready. "Good morning" she said to the room.

"Good morning" the other girls all said back. Bella sat down on her bed as she was already ready, and waited for the other girls so that they could all walk to breakfast together. She glanced at the clock again, and she saw that it was twenty past nine. They had plenty of time to get to the Great Hall before breakfast ended at ten. Five minutes later they were making their way along the corridors to get to the Great Hall. Some of the older Slytherins were making their way back down towards the common room, having already eaten their breakfasts. Bella remembered that she needed to send an owl to her parents to tell them about the Sorting. She would write the letter after breakfast, and send it with Cliodna. 

They sat down at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, and Bella helped herself to some toast. They carried on their conversation from the previous night, and Bella was enjoying having some actual friends. They all finished their breakfasts and made their way back to the common room. They all wanted to write letters to their families, so went back to their dorm room to get quills and parchment. It was a nice day outside, Bella had noticed the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall, so she suggested that they wrote their letters out in the grounds. The others agreed, so they grabbed their things and headed outside. They found a beech tree at the edge of the lake, sat down and began to write.

'Dear father and mother,

I will keep this brief, as I know how busy you both are. We arrived at Hogwarts safely yesterday evening and before the welcome feast, I was sorted into Slytherin House. The Sorting Hat did not hesitate to sort me. There are four other girls in my dormitory, all of whom are from Pureblood families.

I hope that you, Andromeda and Narcissa are well,

With love, from Bellatrix.'

She looked at the short letter that she had written to her parents and said to herself that she would write a longer letter to her sisters later that day. She looked around at the other girls, and saw that they had all stopped writing too. This pleased her as she figured that they all had similar relationships to their families as she had to hers. They all realised that they had finished their letters, and all stood up together to walk to the Owlery. They walked together up the many sets of stairs that led to the Owlery, without speaking much. They got lost, as none of them knew their way around the castle yet. They managed to find a Ravenclaw student who was also on their way up to the Owlery, so they all walked together. The Ravenclaw student was called Alex, and was in their third year. After a couple more minutes, they had reached the Owlery, and all left to attach their letters to different owls. Melinda and Doris each had their own Owls, but Glenda, Rosalind and Alex used school owls to send their letters home. 

After a few minutes, they'd all sent off their letters and were making their way back down to their common rooms. Alex left to go to Ravenclaw Tower, and the girls made their way down to the dungeons, to their common room. They had all decided that they liked Alex, who had been extremely friendly and helpful, despite their being in Slytherin. They spent the rest of their Sunday getting to know the rest of the girls who were in first year, and Bella found herself really enjoying herself and being truly happy for the first time in what felt like forever. Night-time came around far too quickly, and Bella was soon getting ready for bed with the other girls in her dorm.

Bella woke up the next morning full of anticipation for the day ahead. Again, she was the first person to wake up, and she realised that someone was knocking on the dormitory door. She got up and opened it. It was Matilda, their prefect. "It's time for you all to get up – it's your first day of lessons and you don't want to miss breakfast!"

"Thank you, Matilda" Bella said "I'll wake the others up!"

"Thank you, Bella. I'll see you all in the Great Hall!"

Bella closed the door again, and turned to face her dorm-mates. Doris had woken up to the sound of her brief conversation with Matilda, and was rubbing her eyes. "Is it time to get up?" she asked.

"Yes. Will you help me wake the others up?"

"Of course I will" she replied.

Bella went to wake Melinda while Doris woke Rosalind. Rosalind woke quickly, so Doris moved to Glenda's bed. Soon all of the girls were awake, and were excitedly chatting about their first day. Bella went into the bathroom to get ready, while the other girls chatted. She came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and found the other girls ready to go too. As they all walked to the Great Hall, Bella thought about her sisters, and wondered how they would be finding life at home without her. She realised that they had reached the Great Hall, and Bella sat down on the bench, and helped herself to some porridge. 

After a few minutes, Professor Slughorn came down the table, handing out their timetables. Bella saw that her day started with double Potions, followed by Charms. After lunch, she had double History of Magic and the day ended with Transfiguration. She saw Matilda sitting a little bit further down the table, examining her own timetable. She looked up and caught Bella's eye. They both smiled at each other before going back to eating their breakfasts. It was soon nearly nine, so Bella and the rest of the girls from the dorm got up from the table and began to make their way down to the dungeon for Potions.


	5. As time went on...

Her years at Hogwarts passed, and Bella, surrounded by those in her house, began to forget the feelings that she had had on that first day. She had tried to be friendly to Joshua for the first year, but her parents had heard and shouted at her so much over her first summer home that she stayed away from him the next year. She had explained, but felt a pang inside her when she saw his face. She had tried to talk to Penelope too, but she was much less keen to be friends than Joshua had been, so when Bella gave up after that first summer, she didn't seem to notice.

As the years passed she felt herself becoming more like those of her house, but this came at a cost. She began to lose herself in the persona that she presented to the world until that tough persona was all that remained. She had locked her true self inside, so that no one could see it and make fun of her. So all of her morals were locked inside of herself too. The torments and taunts she had heard in her first year died away and instead people began to respect her. She suspected that this was out of fear, as she had become more ruthless the more she locked her true self away. She didn't care about those around her, and didn't really have friends.

She began to date Rodolphus Lestrange, who was two years older than her, and the younger brother of Rabastan, the prefect who had spoken to them on her first night. She didn't care for him either, but her parents approved of the match, so that was all that mattered. She knew that she shouldn't care about her parents opinions as much as she did, but when she was at home they were so powerful that she simply had to submit to their wishes.

Her sisters were at Hogwarts now, and both had been sorted into Slytherin. Her cousins, Sirius and Regulus, were growing up too, and the whole family could tell that Sirius was different to the rest of them. She occasionally wondered what made him so different, but thinking about it made her tough persona begin to crack, as the feelings that she had repressed since her first day began to rise up again. Whenever this happened, she pushed them down deeper still.

She graduated from Hogwarts. She had heard about a person called Lord Voldemort, and she knew that her parents supported his beliefs. He thought that wizards and witches should reign supreme over muggles and Mudbloods, and so that was the view that Bella outwardly expressed. Inwardly, she wasn't sure but she knew that she could never say this out loud. Her parents would, at best, cast her out, and at worst, they might kill her. So, to cover up how she truly felt, she pursued Lord Voldemort and gradually joined him. Her parents had cast her sister, Andromeda, out because she had married a muggle-born, and Sirius had been kicked out at sixteen because he was a Gryffindor and so obviously rebelled against his parents and their beliefs. This just reinforced that she couldn't say anything about her beliefs to her parents. Andromeda and Sirius might have understood and helped her to get out of the family too, but she was now engaged to Rodolphus and was in too far with The Dark Lord. She knew that it would shame the family further if she expressed her true beliefs, and He would almost certainly kill her, so she pushed them down even more.

Bellatrix Black had become Bellatrix Lestrange, as she was married to Rodolphus now, and they were both in the Dark Lord's inner circle of trusted Death Eaters. He excited her in a way that no one else did, and the longer she was around him, the less she had to consciously supress her feelings. Then the war started, and there was no time for sentimentalism – her morals were so deep inside of her, that they could not raise a consciousness within her. The more she killed and tortured people, the more she decided that she liked it, and so the cycle continued. By the end of the war, she had lost count of the number of people that she had hurt, and her morals were long forgotten, as was that small voice that questioned whether she was fighting on the right side.

It was the afternoon of the thirty first of October, 1981. The Dark Lord had been told the prophecy by Severus Snape, and tonight was the night that he planned to act on what he knew. He knew where the Potter's were, thanks to the traitor Peter Pettigrew. Bella was sat with the Dark Lord as he outlined his plan. He had known for a while where the Potter's were, but he had waited until tonight to act. She wasn't sure why, but knew that he must have a good reason. He planned to go to Godric's Hollow alone – the Potter's had no idea that the Fidelius Charm had broken, that the Dark Lord was coming for them, so they would not be prepared for a fight. 

They thought they were safe, that their friend would never betray them, but they were wrong. Bella almost wanted to laugh at their stupidity. They had put their lives in the hands of someone else. Admittedly Wormtail had been one of Potter's closest friends at school, so the Potter's would have felt that they would be safe, but it was a mistake to trust anyone with something like this. Bella didn't entirely understand the Fidelius Charm, simply that the secret was put inside a person, but she wondered why one of the Potter's couldn't have kept the secret inside themselves. Surely that would have made absolutely certain that their secret would be kept safe? But she figured that they must have had a reason to choose someone other than themselves. Bella realised that her mind had wondered – it didn't often do that, so she guessed she must be tired. The Dark Lord would set off for Godric's Hollow when it was dark, and then she would be able to sleep.

It was Rabastan and Bart who came with the Daily Prophet on the morning of the first of November.

YOU-KNOW-WHO DISAPPEARS!

Last night, James and Lily Potter were murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in their home in Godric's Hollow. Incredibly, it seems as though their baby son was also attacked, but survived without serious injury. You-Know-Who, on the other hand, has disappeared seemingly without a trace, and it is therefore assumed that he is gone.

The Daily Prophet article continued with all the information that was available, but all the Death Eaters could focus on was that their Lord was gone. He had been defeated by a baby. They knew that the Dark Lord had targeted Harry Potter because of a prophecy, but it seemed as though the Wizarding World at large did not.

Bella, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Bart were devastated when the Dark Lord fell. They figured that the Aurors must have knowledge of the Dark Lord's whereabouts, and they decided that, since the prophecy could also have referred to the Longbottom family, they were the most likely people to know. The four of them tracked the Aurors down and set off for their house. It was the third of November when they arrived at the house, which had pitiful security – it seemed as though the Aurors had let their guard down. They unlocked the front door and entered the house. They found Alice and Frank Longbottom, along with their baby, in the living room. It was the baby whom the prophecy could also have referred to, being born at the end of July. To begin with, the four Death Eaters simply asked where the Dark Lord was. They figured that their presence in the house would be enough to make the Aurors talk. But they were wrong. They continued to question the Longbottoms, but both of them continued to deny that they knew the whereabouts of the Dark Lord. The four Death Eaters were convinced that they were lying. They were sure that the Aurors would know where He had gone, so they persisted, beginning to use torture, namely the Cruciatus Curse, to try and get the information out of them. Still they continued to say that they did not know.

"Tell us and the pain stops!" Bella shouted at Alice.

"We don't know where he is! We don't know … please …" Alice sobbed back.

Bella thought she could see truth in Alice's face, but the others were clearly unconvinced by what Alice and Frank had said. So they continued the torture of the two Aurors. Bella, spurred on by her husband, cast the final Curse on Alice, which drove her into insanity. Rabastan cast the Curse on Frank, which caused his insanity. The four Death Eaters looked down at Alice and Frank Longbottom, who were mere shadows of the people that they had been. They did not know themselves or anyone around them. Bella looked down at the baby who was sat in a high chair. It had been his dinner time when the four Death Eaters came to call. The four of them looked at each other, and Bella could see what they were thinking. They were thinking that they should kill the baby, after all the prophecy could have been referring to him, so didn't it make sense to eliminate him now, whilst he was unprotected. Bella did not agree. 

She did not think that it would be necessary to kill the child, and anyway, something about the boy intrigued her. Here he was, sat in the same room as his parents who now had no idea who he was. Of course the boy was still an infant, not even two years old, so he would be unable to understand what he had just seen, but … Bart was raising his wand when the front door burst open, and they were all hit with stunning spells. As she lay on the floor, wondering how the Aurors had found out about their being at the Longbottom's house, Bella realised that they had all been taken by surprise. How had that happened? How had they been so focussed on the baby that they hadn't realised Aurors were closing in on them. And now they had been caught. Alice and Frank were evidence to what they had done. If only they had left immediately, they would still be free. Free to pursue any new leads on the whereabouts of the Dark Lord. But they had been captured. Caught by almost a dozen Aurors – there was no chance of escape.


	6. The trial

They were sent to Azkaban while they awaited trial. Bella was not sure how long it was between their capture and their trial – time passed so strangely when surrounded by dementors. Bella was not sure what was real and what was not, as being in such close proximity to dementors had strange side-effects. The ghosts of her past came to haunt her. All those she had killed. All those she had tortured and hurt. And Alice and Frank Longbottom. They had been the first people that Bella had seen become insane due to the Cruciatus Curse. She had never heard of it happening before. In all of her time with the Dark Lord, nobody had ever tortured another person for so long and with such unwillingness to accept the truth that they had gone insane. 

These thoughts were the ones that haunted her most in that first stint in Azkaban. The baby crossed her mind regularly too – who was looking after him? The thought that he would now have to grow up without parents who loved and cared for him was sickening. Then Bella thought about her own parents – if they had shown her more love and affection, would she have turned out the way she was? A murderer? Someone willing to break someone else to the core just for some information? It felt like both one hundred years had passed but at the same time like no time had passed at all when she was collected for her trial.

The four of them were taken to the Ministry, down to the courtrooms which were at the bottom of the building – furthest away from any exit – Bella noticed. They were brought in to the same courtroom, and sat on four chairs whose chains bound them instantly. There was no way of getting out of those chains.

"You have been brought her before the Council of Magical Law, so that we may pass judgement on you, for a crime so heinous –" It was Barty Crouch Sr. who was addressing the room at large.

"Father, father … please …" It was Bart who was pleading with his father.

"– that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court. We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror – Frank Longbottom – and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named –" Crouch Sr. was obstinately refusing to acknowledge his son, which seemed to drive Bart a little bit mad. Bella thought back to Frank and Alice Longbottom, how Bart had been involved in what had happened to them, and that if he couldn't face the consequences of his actions, he should have thought twice about committing them!#

"Father, I didn't! I didn't, I swear it, Father, don't send me back to the dementors –"

"You are further accused of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury –"

"Mother" Mother, stop him, Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"

"I now ask the jury to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!"

All of the members of the jury raised their hands, and all the other members of the Council of Magical Law began to clap, looks of triumph on their faces.

"No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!" Bart was screaming now, begging his mother to take pity on him, but Bella knew that there was nothing she would be able to do.

The dementors were coming back into the courtroom now, and the chains holding Bella loosened as she came into the icy clutches of the nearest dementors. Their grip took away any hope that she had, and filled her with despair. She rose from her chained seat and looked Barty Crouch Sr. in the eyes. "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch. Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" She had hoped that the words, even if she didn't quite believe them, would give her a little hope back, but they did not. All she could feel was the dementors grip, and the deep hopelessness that it brought.

"I'm your son! I'm your son!"

"You are no son of mine! I have no son! Take them away! Take them away, and may they rot there!" Bella was almost surprised at Barty Crouch Sr.'s reaction to his son, but the dementors grip on her was getting stronger and stronger, and any surprise she would have felt began to melt away into the despair and misery of the dementors presence.

"Father! Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!" It was though Bart was calling from a long way off – what he was saying didn't really register, and it faded away, into the screams of the Longbottoms, and all the others that she had killed or tortured or tormented or hurt. There were so many screams.

And then she was sent to Azkaban and every day for the next fifteen years, the faces of those that she had killed and hurt and tortured haunted her. They screamed at her all day and all night, and slowly wore away her sanity. She was not sure how she had survived. There must have been one small part of her subconscious focussing on something that the dementors could not feed off. Many people die when they are in Azkaban for so long, but somehow Bella survived. It was a dark and stormy night when she escaped, along with some of the other faithful servants of the Dark Lord. They had been saved from Azkaban by the Dark Lord and he thanked them for their faithfulness, their unwavering loyalty. 

He had come back whilst they were in Azkaban – they had all felt their Dark Marks growing stronger, and had felt it burn the night of his return. Bella was unsure how long ago that had been. As time seemed to disappear in Azkaban, to be replaced with the despair and nothingness that the dementors brought. But now she was free! Along with Rabastan and Rodolphus and Rookwood and Dolohov and the others who had escaped and those who had managed to escape going to Azkaban plotted with the Dark Lord, and began to plan his rise to power. This brought back some of her sanity, and she was able to plan effectively, and they all began to train. Most of them had been wandless for more than a decade, so they needed to practice if they were to have any chance of succeeding.

Slowly, she began to build up her protective walls and display the persona that she had cultivated so carefully at school, but her dreams were still haunted by the voices of those that she had hurt during the first war. She was careful not to let anyone see this, practicing Occlumency around the Dark Lord, so that he would not know her worries and doubts. After all, he had been beaten once before and by a baby no less, so was he the right person to support? However, she had chosen her side long ago, and there was nothing that she could do to change that now. She had to deal with the situation she was in, and she did so in the only way she knew how – she supressed all of her emotions apart from anger, as she could use this during duels, and focused on forgetting the innocent little girl that she had once been.

It was January 1996. Bella was staying with the Malfoys at their manor in Wiltshire. She and Rodolphus could not return to their home or they would be certain to be caught and sent back to Azkaban. She was weak, but under Narcissa's care, and being away from the dementors, she was regaining her strength. She was enjoying the training that the Dark Lord was making them do; being able to use her wand again was a light in the dark world her life had been for the last fifteen years. She drew strength from being able to cast spells again. But the best news since her escape was the plan to destroy Potter. The one who had caused the Dark Lords demise. He would not be given that opportunity again. He would give the Dark Lord the weapon. 

The prophecy which must contain details of how to destroy the boy. It had begun just before Christmas – Kreacher, the Black family house elf, had arrived on Narcissa's doorstep, with news that could destroy both the Potter boy and the blood traitor, her cousin, Sirius Black. Kreacher came with the news that Potter had come to view Black as someone like a father. He cared for Black so much that he would do almost anything if he thought that he was in danger. It was this that the Dark Lord was going to exploit. He had realised that the Potter boy had a powerful connection with him. The boy could see into his mind. The Dark Lord was going to use Legilimency to plant a vision in the boy's mind that showed Black in danger. It was almost certain that the boy would rush to help Black, and then he would be in their hands. They would get the prophecy from him and then destroy him. And then the Dark Lord would be unstoppable.


	7. At the Ministry

Potter was going to go to the ministry. He believed that Sirius was in danger. The stupid boy believed the vision that The Dark Lord placed in his mind. Stupid boy. So now they were off to the ministry. Bella and Lucius and several other Death Eaters. They were going to get the prophecy for The Dark Lord. Finally he would know how to defeat the boy. Finally he would know how to win. They apparated to the ministry as a group and went down to the Department of Mysteries. They got into the circular room, and closed the door. The wall span, just as Rookwood had said it would, and the blue candles on the wall blurred for a few moments. Then Bella began to see it slowing down. The wall stopped spinning and Rookwood said "room of prophecy". He had worked in the ministry, so he knew how this room worked. The door opened. 

They all walked through the door and into the long dark room with glittering lights that Rookwood had described. As they walked through this room, Bella saw clocks on every available surface – the ticking was irritating. At the end of the room was the large crystal bell jar, which was the source of the glittering lights. There was a bird inside, which was growing at an impossible speed before growing smaller and smaller until it became an egg. It was only an egg for a couple of seconds before it hatched and began to grow again. Bella wondered what was in the bell jar, but didn't say anything. If she did, she knew that the Death Eaters around her would see it as a sign of weakness.

They had walked through another door now and into the giant space that was the Hall of Prophecy. "Potter is going to go to row ninety-seven, so we need to separate and hide around there" Lucius said. Bella was annoyed - why had he been put in charge? Lucius was probably one of the most incompetent of the group but the Dark Lord had put him in charge. He hadn't even worked in the Department of Mysteries to give him an advantage on the rest of them – it was Rookwood who was leading them through. They waited for a while; Bella was still silently fuming over Lucius. Bella wasn't sure how long they had been standing there, when suddenly they saw a chink of glimmering lights which quickly went away again. The door had been opened, so Potter must be here. Bella could hear muffled voices, so she knew that he wasn't alone. She wondered who had been stupid enough to follow Potter here, when Potter expected to be facing the Dark Lord. Unwise children they had been tonight. None of them would be leaving the building, but they would get the prophecy that the Dark Lord needed so desperately.

"Ninety-seven!" A girl's voice had whispered – the children were close.

"He's right down at the end. You can't see properly from here" it was Potters voice this time. There was quiet for about a minute before Bella heard Potter speak again. "He should be near here. Anywhere here … really close …"

"Harry?" it was the girl who had spoken before, but now Bella could see the group. There were six of them in total, but it was too dark to make out who they were properly.

"Somewhere about … here …" Potter had continued to say. They had come out of the row and were standing as a group. Bella could just make out the bewildered expression on Potters face as he looked around in the dim candlelight. "He might be … or maybe …" Potter was peering down the next few alleyways as he spoke. Bella could hear the desperation in his voice. He was willing himself to find Sirius. Bella thought how stupid the boy was, loving her cousin as much as he did. The boy barely knew him, as Sirius had spent most of the boy's life in Azkaban. 

Bella wondered, as she had often done, what made Sirius so different from the rest of their family, and whether if she had been placed in a different house, she would be in the same position. She remembered back to her first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, how she had wondered whether she belonged in Slytherin. How she had wondered about her beliefs and those of the rest of Slytherin house. But Bella had accepted that the Sorting Hat had put her in Slytherin for a reason, so surely she was fulfilling what the Hat had seen in her. She felt a faint stirring of disquiet as she often did when she thought about that first day at Hogwarts, but there was no time to dwell on it now. She had a job to do.

"Harry?" the girl said again.

"What?" Potter replied snappily.

"I … I don't think Sirius is here." The girl said this rather timidly, as if she expected Potter to yell at her for suggesting such a thing. Potter said nothing however and just began to run past the isles looking for Sirius.

"Harry?" It was one of the boys who had called this time.

"What?" Potter was beginning to get angry now. Bella could see it in his face. She could also see that the other boy had been examining the prophecies. He had seen it. He was going to show Potter!

"Have you seen this?" the boy asked.

"What?" Potter said again. There was eagerness in his voice, rather than anger now. He had run back to where the group were huddled at the end of row ninety-seven. "What" he repeated, but rather glumly this time.

"It's – it's got your name on" the boy told him, looking at the dusty prophecies on the shelf.

"My name?" Potter said this rather questioningly. Bella wondered why. Surely he knew where he was and what the prophecies were?

"What is it? What's your name doing down here?" The boy asked. This puzzled Bella further. Did none of them know where they were and what the fact that there was a prophecy with Potter's name on it meant? "I'm not here. None of the rest of us are here." They were looking along the shelving now, as if they really expected to see one of their names in addition to Potters. Bella suppressed a chuckle. These children really were foolish. To have come all this way, following Potters vision without knowing what they were getting themselves into.

"Harry, I don't think you should touch it" the girl said sharply. Potter had stretched out his hand towards the prophecy with his name on it.

"Why not?" He asked her. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"

"Don't Harry" it was one of the other boys who had said this.

"It's got my name on" Potter retorted. He picked up the prophecy. It was almost time for them to make their move. Bella was excited! She had wanted to take Potter on since he had taken down the Dark Lord nearly fourteen years ago. She could see Lucius through one of the rows. He glanced at her and shook his head. As if he was telling her what to do. This infuriated her. She was older than him, she had done time in Azkaban for the Dark Lord whilst he had stayed at the top of the social ladder. Doing nothing to try and find the Dark Lord. Lucius must have seen these thoughts forming in Bella's mind, as he suddenly stepped forwards, into the light. All of the children were facing away from them, examining the prophecy.

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around nice and slowly, and give that to me." Lucius said. The other Death Eaters moved forwards as well, Bella moved with them, all with their wands lit and raised. They formed a circle around the children, cutting off any way of escape. They were trapped, and exactly where they wanted them. One of the girls gave a gasp of horror as they looked around and saw their predicament. "To me, Potter" Lucius said, holding out his hand to receive the prophecy. "To me."

"Where's Sirius?" Potter asked. Bella and some of the other Death Eaters laughed at this.

"The Dark Lord always knows!" Bella said triumphantly.

"Always. Now, give me the prophecy, Potter." Lucius said softly.

"I want to know where Sirius is!" Potter said.

"I want to know where Sirius is!" Bella was mimicking Potter, taunting him by repeating his words. Mocking him.

"You've got him" Potter said. "He's here. I know he is."

"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was two." Bella was enjoying mocking him. Taunting him. Repeating his words in a babyish voice. It had been a long time since she had been able to play like this."

"Don't do anything, not yet" Potter was muttering to his friends.

Bella shrieked with laughter. "You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"

"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix. He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy Potter." Lucius had yelled this last part. Bella knew he was becoming frustrated.

"I know Sirius is here. I know you've got him!" Potter was becoming more and more desperate. Bella could see this in his eyes. She laughed along with the others at the boys stupidity.

"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter. Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands." Lucius was becoming increasingly impatient with Potter.

"Go on then" Potter replied angrily, raising his wand to chest height. The other children followed his example. They all had their wands raised and were ready to fight. Stupid children. Thinking of taking on eleven Death Eaters, as if there was a chance that they would survive?

"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt" Lucius said coolly.

Potter laughed at this. "Yeah right" I give you this – prophecy is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"

Bella had had enough of all of this talking. "Accio Proph –"

"Protego!" Potter had shouted this just in time. Bella had been so close to summoning the prophecy into her hands, but Potter had saved it just in time.

"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter. Very well, then –" Bella began to raise her wand.

"I TOLD YOU NO!" Lucius roared. "If you smash it –!"

Bella stepped forward and removed her hood so that Potter could see her. "You need more persuasion?" She asked, breathing heavily with excitement. "Very well – take the smallest one" she ordered Jugson who was stood on her right. "Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it." The other children had tightened in a circle around the smallest girl, who had long ginger hair. Bella guessed that she was a Weasley, which made her want to torture her even more. The Weasley family were the biggest Blood Traitor family in the wizarding world. Potter was directly in front of her, with the prophecy held close to his chest.

"You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us, I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?" He was looking her straight in the face, showing more defiance than fear. "So, what kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?" Potter asked.

"What kind of prophecy?" Bella repeated. "You jest, Harry Potter." She was sure he must know. Dumbledore was sure to have told the boy about the prophecy.

"Nope, not jesting" Potter said, now looking to each of the Death Eaters in turn. "How come Voldemort wants it?"

Bella gasped internally. It had been a long time since she had heard that name. People were usually too scared to. "You dare speak his name?" She asked him in a whisper.

"Yeah. Yeah I've got no problem with saying Vol –"

"Shut your mouth!" Bella shrieked, cutting him off. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your halfblood's tongue, you dare –"

"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" He had cut her off this time, which angered her more than anything else that had happened so far that evening. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle – or has he been telling you lot he's pure-blood?"

"STUPEF–" Bella began.

"NO" roared Lucius, hitting her wand, which had begun to shoot red light at the boy, causing it to smash into one of the shelves just to the left of the boy. "DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!" Bella was in such a rage over this that she stopped noticing her surroundings.

"He dared – he dares –" she shrieked "he stands there – filthy half-blood –"

"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!" Lucius bellowed at her.

"You haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over." Potter saying this had pulled her back to her senses.

"Do not play games with us Potter" Lucius told him.

"I'm not playing games." The boy replied.

"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" Lucius sneered.

"I – what? What about my scar?" Potter seemed genuinely confused by what Malfoy had just said.

"Can this be? Dumbledore never told you? Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter, the Dark Lord wondered why you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He though natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording …"

"Did he?" Potter asked. "So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? Why?"

"Why?" Lucius laughed incredulously. "Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."

"And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?"

"About both of you, Potter, about both of you … haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"

Potter stared at Lucius. "Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" He asked this extremely quietly, whilst still clutching the prophecy close to him. "And he's made me come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"

"Get it himself?" Bella shrieked, before a cackle of laughter escaped her lips. "The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"

"So, he's got you doing his work for him, has he? Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it – and Bode?"

"Very good, Potter, very good …" Lucius said slowly "but the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell–"

"NOW" Potter yelled suddenly.

The other five all raised their wands immediately yelling "REDUCTO!" The curses shot in different directions and smashed into the shelves, which began to topple and fall.


	8. The fight continues

"RUN!" Bella heard the boy shout as the shelves and prophecies crashed around them. The Death Eaters had been taken by surprise. They had thought that the children were trapped, with no escape. When had they worked this plan out? Bella was furious that none of the other Death Eaters had noticed, but she didn't have time to dwell on that now – they must catch Potter and the other children and get the prophecy. Bella held her arm over her head and began to run down one of the closest alleyways that hadn't been hit by the Reductor Curse, heading towards the exit door, as she was sure that that was where Potter and his friends would go. 

The shelves and prophecies were falling and crashing all around her, but she did not notice. Her main aim was to get Potter. Bella had come to the end of the isle when she saw Potter and two of the others running into the Time Room, and closing the door. Rodolphus reached the door first and tried to open it. He couldn't. They must have sealed it. The Death Eaters were crowding around the door now, all of them apart from Nott. Bella could see him at the end of one of the other isles, with blood pouring down his face. He had gone very pale. He must be quite badly injured. It seemed as though Jugson had carried Nott out from beneath the crashing shelves.

"Leave Nott, Leave him, I say – his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organise! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary – Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right – Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead – Macnair and Avery, through here – Rookwood, over there – Mulciber, come with me!" It was Lucius who had given the instructions.

Bella hurried off to the left, with Rodolphus following her. They opened door after door, none of which had anyone in, nor did they lead anywhere else. Bella couldn't see or hear any of the other Death Eaters now – they must have spread out over quite a distance. She was becoming impatient now. She wanted to be involved in the action. She really wanted to hurt Potter and his friends. To teach them a lesson for messing with her. She pulled open another door. It led into the Death Chamber, which had several doors leading off of it. Rookwood had told them all about this room. To avoid the veil which was in the middle of it. 

Suddenly, Bella could hear a commotion coming from somewhere nearby, but she couldn't work out where it was coming from. She and Rodolphus looked at each other before opening the doors, but none of them led to the source of the noise. Rookwood was unexpectedly opening doors over to her right, while Rodolphus was on her left. Bella was becoming frustrated again because none of the doors seemed to lead anywhere. Finally she opened a door and saw people. It was all six of the children! They did not look good! "There they are!" She shrieked with excitement, ran into the room and began firing stunning spells at the group.

Potter was holding up the ginger haired boy who was laughing incessantly, a blonde haired girl was holding up the ginger haired girl who was pale and looked as if her ankle was broken. The third boy looked familiar but she couldn't see his face properly as he was carrying a third girl. Potter ran through one of the doors, dropped the ginger boy, while the two girls followed. He ran back in and helped the other boy through. Bella was so close but he slammed the door closed in her face and she heard him shout "colloportus." As he had slammed the door, the one by which they had entered closed as well, and the walls began to spin. It was no use shouting "Brain Room" to the walls, as Potter had magically sealed it. She looked around to see Rodolphus and Rookwood standing right behind her.

"It doesn't matter!" Said Rodolphus "There are other ways in – WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!" He shouted this so that the other Death Eaters would be able to hear, and Rookwood said "We can get in through the Death Chamber." The door opened, and they ran through. Bella could see Lucius and Mulciber, who must have heard their shouts, and just entered the Death Chamber.

"They're all in the Brain Room" she told them. They ran up the stone benches, following Rookwood, and he threw open the door. The blonde girl had been in the middle of sealing the room, and Bella heard her spell become a scream as she flew across the room. "Get Potter!" She shouted at the other Death Eaters, as she ran at him. He dodged her, and began to sprint the full length of the room. She wanted to curse him, but couldn't risk it. Not while he still had the prophecy.

"Hey. Hey, Harry, there are brains in here, ha ha ha, isn't that weird, Harry?" It was the confused and laughing ginger boy who had said this.

"Ron, get out of the way, get down –" Potter shouted at him, but the boy paid no attention.

"Honest, Harry, they're brains – look – Accio brain!" He said. Everyone seemed to freeze to watch the brain fly out of the tank and towards the boy. Bella stared in spite of herself – she knew that now would be a perfect time to get Potter, but there was something mesmerising about watching the brains progress across the room. "Ha ha ha, Harry, look at it. Harry, come and touch it; bet it's weird–"

"RON, NO!" Potter shouted at the boy called Ron, but he was too late. The boy caught the brain in his outstretched hands, and immediately began wrapping itself around his hands and arms.

"Harry, look what's happen – No – no – I don't like it – no, stop – stop –" The boy was beginning to panic as the tentacle like ribbons began to wrap themselves around his chest.

"Diffindo!" Potter shouted, pointing his wand at the tentacles, obviously hoping that this would sever them. But it did nothing. The boy fell over, thrashing against the tentacles which were mercilessly wrapping themselves around him.

"Harry, it'll suffocate him!" It was the ginger girl, obviously the ginger boys sister, who had screamed this, and Bella could hear the panic in her voice. A stunning spell shot from one of the Death Eaters behind her. Bella wasn't sure who had cast the spell – they must have done it silently. Personally, she would have let the girl watch her brother die, but she supposed that this shut the girl up.

"STUBEFY!" The other boy shouted, pointing his wand at them and Bella now knew why she recognised his face. He was the Longbottom boy. He looked like his mother had done. Defiant. Fighting until the end. But she had destroyed her and the boy's father, and if she got the chance, she would destroy him. "STUBEFY. STUBEFY!" Nothing was coming from the boy's wand – clearly he was not as good a wizard as his parents had been. Again, a stunning spell was cast by one of the Death Eaters behind her, but this time, they missed. Potter and Longbottom were the only two standing now, but Bella could see that they were willing and ready to fight again. Two more spells were shot at the two boys, but they both missed. 

Bella began to run at Potter, but he must have been expecting this, as he began to sprint for the far end of the room. He was holding the prophecy high above his head, making it clear that if he went down, the prophecy would go down too. That must have been the smartest thing the boy had done all evening. Bella followed him, and from the sounds of it the other Death Eaters were following. Potter ran through the open door, and fell down the tiered stone benches that they had climbed up earlier.

Bella followed him through the door, and climbed down the benches towards him. Looking around she could see that Rodolphus, Rookwood, Lucius and Mulciber had followed her out of the Brain Room, whilst Jugson, Crabbe, Dolohov, Macnair and Avery were making their way into the Death Chamber from some of the other doors. They were all laughing at the boy. Rabastan must have been incapacitated somewhere, and Nott was still injured from the stunt with the shelves in the Hall of Prophecy. Potter had collapsed in a heap at the bottom of the benches, but Bella could see him start to get up. His legs were trembling, but he was still holding the prophecy. It was amazing that it hadn't smashed as the boy fell. He was backing away from them now, into the centre of the room, towards the dais with the veil on it. As he reached the dais and climbed onto it, all of the Death Eaters had landed on the same level, and began to close in.

"Potter, your race is run, now hand me the prophecy like a good boy" Malfoy drawled, removing his mask.

"Let – let the others go, and I'll give it to you!" Potter said in reply. Bella laughed, along with some of the others.

"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter, you see, there are ten of us and only one of you … or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?" said Lucius.

"He's dot alone!" The Longbottom boy had come out of the Brain Room and was scrambling rather clumsily down the stone benches. "He's still god be!" The boys nose was bleeding and looked as if it was probably broken – it was distorting his speech.

"Neville – no – go back to Ron –" Potter pleaded.

"STUBEFY! STUBEFY! STUBE–" He had been pointing his wand at each of the Death Eaters as he spoke, but again, nothing happened as he cast the spells. Crabbe had moved behind him, and seized the boy, pinning his arms to his sides. He struggled against Crabbe's grip, but he couldn't free himself. The Death Eaters laughed at him.

"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" Malfoy sneered "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause … your death will not come as a great shock."

"Longbottom?" Bella repeated, she was grinning now, enjoying herself. "Why I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."

"I DOE YOU HAB!" The boy yelled, and he began to struggle even more against Crabbe's grip.

"Someone stun him!" Crabbe shouted.

"No, no, no" Bella replied "no, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he

cracks like his parents … unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" Longbottom yelled. He was still struggling, knowing what he was about to face. "DON'D GIB IT DO DEM, HARRY!"

"Crucio" Bella said, revelling in being able to do this again. The Longbottom boy screamed and curled up into a ball. Crabbe was still holding him, so he was being held off the floor. Bella only cast the spell for a couple of seconds, to give both boys a sense of what the rest of the evening could be like. Longbottom was on the floor now, Crabbe having dropped him, and he was twitching and screaming in pain. "That was just a taster!" she said "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!" She saw it in his eyes first, the look of defeat, and she knew that she had won. He held out the prophecy, and Malfoy moved forwards to take it.


	9. The Order arrives

Suddenly a set of doors high above them burst open and members of the Order of the Phoenix had rushed into the room, sending stunning spells towards them as they ran. Potter ducked out of the way, and he still had the prophecy, but the threat from the Order was more important than Potter at the moment. She began to duel Tonks, her niece, but it did not matter that they were related. Tonks had chosen to support the losing side, and although Bella was not going to kill her, that didn't mean that she would not cause the girl harm. Bella was only half focused on the duel, as the feeling that had crept upon her as they had waited for Potter settled on her again. Had Tonks and Sirius chosen the losing side, or had that been her? She duelled competently despite not being fully focused on what she was doing. 

She had duelled so often with the Dark Lord in training that all of her movements were like a well-rehearsed dance. She knew exactly when to duck and dodge, how to guess which way Tonks would dive. The girl had been taught by Mad-Eye Moody – that was evident from the way she fought. That also made it easier for Bella – She had duelled Moody many times before he had eventually caught her, so she knew how he fought well. But still, as she duelled, there was the nagging voice which was telling her that she could have been fighting with Sirius and Tonks rather than against them. She wondered whether things would have been different if she and Sirius were more similar in age – would she have been influenced by him more? Would she have been able to finally stand up to her father and mother, and tell them that she wasn't sure that their beliefs were right rather than blindly following them, and ignoring that nagging voice inside?

But it was too late to dwell on the past, and what her life might have been like. For all she knew, nothing would have changed. But she would never know. And now she had to deal with the situation she was in, which meant winning her duel with Tonks, and moving onto another Order member. She hit Tonks with a well-placed stunning spell, and turned to face the battle that was raging all around her. Sirius was talking to Potter; it looked as if he was telling him to get out. She shot Stunning Spells at the pair, but Sirius forced the boy down and they missed. Someone else shot the killing curse at them, but that had missed too.

Bella was secretly glad – she may have wildly different views to her cousin, but he was still family, and in the same way that she not duelled to kill Tonks, she would not kill Sirius. She could see Potter dragging Longbottom up now – someone had hit the boy with the Tarantallegra Charm, so he could barely stand. Sirius had yelled something at Potter before rushing forward to meet her. Spells were flying all around the Death Chamber. Bella and Sirius were on the dais, and she was shooting Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell, trying to get Sirius at the right angle to fall away from the veil. She knew what would happen if he fell in. He was shooting spell after spell at her too, but she thought that he, like her, was not duelling to kill. She wondered whether this was because they were family, or just because he didn't agree with the idea of killing. She knew that he hadn't killed Pettigrew and the muggles fourteen years ago, and she wondered if he had ever killed anyone before. She had stopped concentrating on the duel so much and was simply firing spells at him, most of which missed by a fraction.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he shouted at her, and she shot another Stunning Spell at him. She realised as soon as she had that he was now directly in front of the veil. The spell hit him straight in the chest and she knew what was going to happen next. He was going to fall through the veil. She had killed him. She felt the last shred of her sanity leave her as she watched her cousin fall through the veil. He was still smiling as he fell. If only, she thought, he had helped me leave, he might still be alive. She had supressed this thought as quickly as it arose, so it merely fleeted across her mind and she barely registered it. She faked a triumphant scream, as she realised that the room was silent around her. She looked around and saw Dumbledore – he had captured many of the other Death Eaters, so their duels had stopped.

"SIRIUS! SIRIUS!" She heard a boy shouting. It was Potter. He had seen. But then Kingsley was in front of her and she had to duel him. There was nothing good left inside her. She didn't care anymore. She had failed. She had promised herself that she would not kill her family, but she had failed. Her anger at herself exploded out of her in a spell that she did not recognise. Kingsley hit the floor, yelling in agony. It was now or never. She ran.

"Harry – no!" She heard someone shout through the fog that was clouding her mind.

"SHE KILLED SIRIUS! SHE KILLED HIM – I'LL KILL HER!" She knew without looking behind her that Potter had followed. She didn't care anymore. She heard a whizzing sound behind her and made split second decision to not give up. She turned and deflected the curse that Dumbledore had shot at her and ran. Potter was following. As she ran, she wasn't sure what had made her fight, and she wasn't entirely sure where she was going. Her attention to details, once so accurate had faded due to her time in Azkaban. She had found it hard to focus on where they were going in the Ministry, so finding her way out, whilst being pursued by Potter and potentially members of the Order of the Phoenix would be a challenge. 

To her surprise, the first door she opened as she fled led into the Brain Room. She knew where she was and how to get out. She ran past all the children who were lying broken on the floor. The door crashed open behind her and she knew that Potter had followed her quickly. Without thinking, she aimed her wand at the jar of brains and caused them to fly towards Potter. If she could stop him from following her, she could deal with her emotions, but she heard him shout "Wingardium Leviosa" and knew that he was still following her. She ran through the door at the far end, and into the room with blue candles, which would let her out. She closed the door behind her and said "Exit." The walls began to spin, and slow down.

As they stopped and the correct door opened, Potter opened another door and ran in. She could see the fury in his eyes. It seemed that he didn't care anymore either. She ran out of the open door behind her and slammed it before Potter had reached it. She ran towards the lifts. Hopefully Potter would not know how the room worked, and would have to try the doors by trial and error. Hopefully she would be long gone by the time he had found his way to the lifts. She wasn't sure why she was suddenly so reluctant to face the boy. Was Sirius' death the one that had finally tipped her over the edge, causing her morals to take over? Did she not want to be the one responsible for hurting any more people, especially given that he was a child? She didn't know. All she knew was that she had to get out of the Ministry, and clear her head before she faced the Dark Lord. If he knew how she was currently feeling, he would never trust her again.


	10. Dumbledore arrives

She was inside the lift and it was rising – she did not remember getting in or pressing any buttons. "The Atrium" the cool female voice said. The grilles slid open and she ran towards the exit at the far end of the hall. She was almost there when she heard the voice say "The Atrium" again, and knew that Potter must have found his way out quickly. She turned around, and aimed a Stunning Spell at him. He dived behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren, and her spell hit the golden gates at the far end of the hall. They rang like bells. The sound made her remember Regulus' funeral and just made the despair and loss rise up further inside her. She could not let this happen. She had to remain in control, at least until she was away from Potter. She decided that it was best to appear as if she was trying to beat him, without actually hurting him.

"Come out, come out, little Harry!" She taunted him in the same baby voice she had used earlier. "What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"

"I am!" Potter shouted, and the sound echoed around the room so that her head was full of it.

"Aaaaah … did you love him, little baby Potter?" She wasn't really sure what she was saying – her mind was so numb from shock.

"Crucio!" Potter had hit her from behind and pain coursed through her, but only for a moment. She screamed and had fallen over, but the pain had left her so quickly, that she did not lose her poise. She shot a counter-spell at him, but he had ducked behind the fountain again. Her spell hit the wizard in the head, and it was blown off, and landed twenty feet away from them.

"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy? You need to mean them Potter! You need to really want to cause pain – to enjoy it – righteous anger won't hurt me for long – I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson–" She had been aware of where he was the whole time she had been talking – he had been making his way around the fountain, clearly hoping to get her from behind again. She spun around and shouted "Crucio!" He ducked out of the way again, so her spell hit the centaur's arm, which flew off and landed near the wizards head. "Potter, you cannot win against me!" she cried at him, all sense of herself had vanished. 

"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete–" She was surprised at how sane her voice sounded. The boy could not guess that she was grieving her cousin. That she was so shaken up by what had happened in the Death Chamber that she wasn't sure how she would go on living. Her sense of self had been so shaken up in the last few minutes, that she wasn't sure what was actually her, and what was the fake version of herself that she presented to the world. Everything was so jumbled up inside of her that she could barely think.

"Stupefy!" The boy had cried. He had edged around the fountain so that he was behind her again, and shot the spell straight at her back. She wasn't sure how she reacted quickly enough to cast the shield charm, but she did and his spell shot right back at him. He ducked behind the fountain again. She was done playing games.

"Potter, I'm going to give you one chance!" She shouted. "Give me the prophecy – roll it out towards me now – and I may spare your life!" If she could just get out of there with the prophecy, the events of tonight would not have been completely pointless.

"Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" The boy shouted back. Bella didn't believe him. She couldn't believe him. "And he knows!" the boy was laughing madly now "Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"

"What? What do you mean?" She cried. She heard the fear she was feeling in the words she spoke. This had brought her back to herself like nothing else would have done right now. The prophecy was gone. And the Dark Lord knew! He was going to be so angry! He would take out his wroth on all of them, and Bella wasn't sure if she could take it. She had done as a girl, taken the punishments that her parents had given her for misbehaving. But she had been whole then. She had been sane. She had known who she was and how to cope with her punishments. But now? She might appear stronger, but inside she knew she was weak. And she had been weakened further by the events of the night. She felt like she was that scared eleven year old on the train, being condemned as a person simply for being a Slytherin. She knew that the Dark Lord punished failure severely – he did not care that they were loyal to him. He would be in such a rage that he wouldn't care who he hurt.

"The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps. What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?" They boy speaking had pulled her from her thoughts.

"LIAR!" She yelled. She knew that she had started to go mad and the thought of the Dark Lord punishing her. She had to get the prophecy. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!" Nothing happened and she knew that he was telling the truth. The prophecy was gone. Her last chance of seeking favour with the Dark Lord was gone. She knew that if he punished her, she was unlikely to survive mentally. She would be driven insane, as there was no sanity left inside to keep her grounded. She would end up like the Longbottom's, who she had tortured so many years ago. The boy was laughing madly again now – it was evident that his grief was causing this.

"Nothing there! Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!" he shouted at her from behind the fountain.

"No! You're lying!" She shouted back, when to her horror, she saw the Dark Lord appear behind the boy. "MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED – DO NOT PUNISH ME–"

"Don't waste your breath!" The boy yelled at her – clearly he was unaware of the Dark Lord's presence. "He can't hear you from here!"

"Can't I Potter?" The Dark Lord said. "So, you smashed my prophecy? No, Bella, he is not lying … I see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind … months and months of preparation … months of effort … and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again …"

"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black! Master you should know–" She was sobbing as she said this, sure that being the only Death Eater he could see would mean that he poured his wrath onto her alone, for the moment at least.

"Be quiet, Bella. I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your snivelling apologies?"

"But master – he is here – he is below–" she had to tell him that Dumbledore was here. Maybe that would earn her a less severe punishment. The Dark Lord said nothing to her – he didn't even look at her.

"I have nothing more to say to you, Potter, you have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!" The boy had done nothing. He had no time to react, but the headless wizard had sprung from the fountain to stand in front of the boy, protecting him from the curse. "What –?" The Dark Lord said, spinning around, "Dumbledore!" He shot another Killing Curse at Dumbledore, but he disaparated instantly. He reappeared behind the Dark Lord, and waved his wand at the fountain. Bella screamed as the statue of the witch ran at her. She shot spell after spell at the statue, but they all bounced off her chest. And then she was pinning her to the ground. Bella was unable to escape the witches grasp. She panicked at the thought of being found by members of the ministry and being sent back to Azkaban. She knew that if she went back, she wouldn't survive. 

She was so focused on her internal struggle that she had no idea of what was happening around her. She knew that Dumbledore was duelling with the Dark Lord, but was not paying attention to the intricacies of their fight. The numbness had begun to spread over her again, and she knew that she would not be able to deal with her grief now that the Dark Lord was here. She would simply have to repress her feelings, as she had done since she was eleven, and move on. But she wasn't sure how well it would work this time. With all of the others, she had intended to cause harm, but not with Sirius. She had simply wanted to stun him, so that none of the other Death Eaters would hurt him. She hadn't meant for their duel to end like it did. She felt a tear fall down her cheek as she thought this, but couldn't even raise her arm to wipe it away. She simply felt it there.

She had stopped struggling against her golden captor too. She told herself that this was because she would need all of her strength for whatever the Dark Lord had instore for her, but deep down she knew that it was because she couldn't. She simply didn't have the strength to fight anymore tonight, and she was glad that the Dark Lord was now fighting instead of her. She would not have been able to duel Dumbledore without being fully focused and right now, she could not concentrate. Time seemed to pass quickly – there were flashes of light from the duel and she could hear voices but not distinguish the words that they said. Suddenly, the Dark Lord was next to her, and had pulled the golden witch off of her. She wasn't sure when the statue had stopped being animated, but guessed it had been mere seconds. She glanced up and saw that the hall was full of wizards, before the Dark Lord had apparated them both out of the Ministry.

Bella wasn't sure where they were for a moment, but then she realised that they were in Malfoy Manor – Lucius' home. "They saw you, my Lord. Fudge. And loads of Aurors!"

"Be quiet Bella – I need to work out the extent of the damage that tonight has caused." He left for one of the upstairs rooms.

Narcissa hurried out of the drawing room and gazed at her. Bella didn't say anything, so she wasn't sure how her sister knew that what she needed most of all right now was a hug. Narcissa pulled Bella into the drawing room, pushed her into the chair closest to the fire and went into the kitchen. She came back a few minutes later with a hot drink, which she pushed into Bella's hands. The sisters sat in silence while Bella drank the drink, which turned out to be cocoa. Narcissa always knew how to make her feel better. Once she had finished her drink, Bella realised that she was able to think more clearly than she had since she had duelled Sirius. Narcissa was staring at her. It had been a long time since her youngest sister had seen her like this. Lacking composure. Sitting just as she was, without her persona to protect her. "What happened?" she asked Bella.

"Too much" was Bella's simple reply. She could see that Narcissa understood that she wouldn't be talking about it tonight.

"What about Lucius? Is he okay?" Bella knew that this was the only question Narcissa would ask her tonight.

"I don't know." She said blankly. "Dumbledore showed up, and caught most of us. I didn't see whether Lucius was there or whether he'd gone. I'm sorry Cissy. I really am." Narcissa turned away. Bella knew that she was trying not to cry. She knew that Narcissa really cared about Lucius, as they had married for love as well as because they were a good pureblood match. Bella didn't really care about Rodolphus in the same way. Narcissa knew this too, and she didn't ask Bella whether she knew if he was safe. When she looked back on this moment, Bella realised that this had been the beginning of the end of Lord Voldemort.

The Dark Lord did not speak to anyone for the next two days. Bella had tried to speak to him only once – he had said nothing, but glared at her until she slowly backed out of the room. She had decided not to approach him until he came out of the room and approached them. It was not until the evening of the 21st of June that he came out, sat silently at the dining room table, and ate dinner with herself, Narcissa and Draco, who had only just returned from Hogwarts that day. Lucius had been captured in the Death Chamber, and had been sent to Azkaban. All of the other Death Eaters, including Rodulphus, had also been captured. Bella could see that the Dark Lord had been devastated by the loss of the opportunity to hear the prophecy. The one thing that might have been able to help him to defeat Potter. And it was gone. No one had heard it. There was now no way of knowing what the prophecy had said.


	11. At Spinner's end

Narcissa was desperate. Bella had never seen her as hopeless as she was now. It scared her to see her sister looking like this. They had argued almost non-stop since Narcissa had first told Bella of her plan. Her plan to save Draco, but which also defied the Dark Lord. She wanted to visit the one person she thought would be able to help her son. Severus Snape. Bella had tried to tell her about her misgivings about him, but Narcissa's desperation to save her son was all consuming, and blinded her to the arguments that Bella put to her. Tonight the Dark Lord had gone out, saying that he would be gone for a couple of days. Narcissa had her cloak on and was ready to go when Bella confronted her about her plan again. "You can't go, Cissy!"

"You might be my older sister, Bella, but you are not a mother. You have no idea what I am willing to do for my son." Those words stung Bella to the core. Narcissa knew that Bella could not have children. She knew about the miscarriages. Narcissa knew that Bella would never be a mother, even though she had always wanted to be. It had crushed her when Draco was born, because she saw how happy Narcissa and Lucius were, but knew she would never have that same feeling herself. That coupled with the grief and regret she was still feeling for Sirius enraged her.

"I might not be a mother, but I know the Dark Lord. If he ever finds out what you are planning to do tonight, he will do the very thing you are trying to prevent. He will kill you, Draco and Lucius without a second thought."

"If he finds out. But he will not. And if Draco fails, he will kill us all anyway. I am more willing to take the chance that he finds out than I am to risk my son's life on this suicide mission. If Snape helps him, Draco is likely to succeed, and the Dark Lord never needs to know about our involvement in the matter" Narcissa snapped. "I am going, whether you like it or not. Do not follow me if you are going to try and stop me." She apparated.

Bella summoned her cloak and apparated after her sister. "Wait!" she called once she had arrived. She looked around – she had arrived at the banks of an overgrown river. There was a large factory chimney in the distance, but Bella couldn't really see much else – the fog from the Dementors saw to that. Something leapt out of the undergrowth – Bella killed whatever it was, with a non-verbal spell and a jet of green light. She walked over to where it lay. "Just a fox. I thought perhaps an Auror – Cissy, wait!" Narcissa had only paused for a second after Bella had killed the fox, but she was now scrambling up the bank, towards the town. "Cissy – Narcissa – listen to me –" She was running after her sister now, and caught up at the top of the bank, where a railing separated the river bank from the start of the town. She seized Narcissa's arm, but she pulled away.

"Go back, Bella!"

"You must listen to me!"

"I've listened already. I've made my decision. Leave me alone!" Bella was not surprised by Narcissa's reaction to the Dark Lord's plan, but she was surprised by the lengths she was willing to go to, especially since it might get her killed. The sisters were looking out over the dishevelled and dilapidated houses that lined the narrow, cobbled street.

"He lives here? Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of out kind ever to set foot –" Bella's voice was full of contempt. Narcissa, however, was not listening to her – she had slipped through the railings and was hurrying across the road. "Cissy, wait!" Bella was following her sister across the street, her cloak streaming behind her. This was the first time that she had felt focused since that night. Her sister had given her something to live for. Something to concentrate on, a reason to carry on. She knew that she would not be able to carry on living if Narcissa died. She was the one person from her childhood that was still here. Andromeda had left and married a Mudblood. Regulus was dead. Sirius was … Narcissa was the only thing that was keeping a semblance of sanity in her at the moment. She followed her sister down an alley-way and into a near identical street. Muggle towns are weird. The street lights were broken, so they were running in and out of darkness and light. She caught up to Narcissa at the corner of this street, caught hold of her and spun her around to face her. "Cissy, you must not do this, you can't trust him –"

"The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn't he?"

"The Dark Lord is … I believe … mistaken." Bella was panting from all the running she had done. "In any case, we were told not to speak of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord's –"

"Let go, Bella!" Narcissa snarled, pulling her wand from beneath her cloak, and holding in Bella's face.

"Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn't –"

"There is nothing I wouldn't do anymore!" Narcissa breathed, slightly hysterical. She shot a spell, which burned like a knife. Bella let go.

"Narcissa!" Bella called as her sister turned and rushed forward. It seemed as though nothing would dissuade her. Bella followed her, but kept her distance. She did not want to push her sister to do something which she might later regret. Eventually, Narcissa turned up a street called Spinner's End. The factory chimney was extremely close now, towering over the rows of houses. Narcissa kept going until she reached the last house in the lane. All of the other houses were boarded up, so it was obvious that no one lived in them. Narcissa had knocked on the door before Bella had caught up. She was cursing under her breath because she knew what the Dark Lord would do to Narcissa if he found out what she was doing. They were both breathing heavily after their brisk walk through the town. After a few seconds, there was movement from inside the house, and the door opened a crack. Through the crack, Bella could make out the dark eyes, sallow face and long black hair of the man within. Narcissa pulled her hood off of her face and looked at the man. She was so pale that she seemed to glow in the darkness. Unlike Bella and Andromeda, Narcissa had blonde hair, which streamed down her back.

"Narcissa! What a pleasant surprise!" The man had opened the door a little wider, so the sisters were lit up by the light from inside the house.

"Severus, may I speak to you? It's urgent." Narcissa said in a strangled whisper.

"But of course." He opened the door wider to allow Narcissa in. Bella, still hooded, followed.

"Snape." She said brusquely as she passed him.

"Bellatrix." She did not look at him, but walked straight into a miniscule sitting room, which led immediately off of the front door. It was a dark and dingy room; it reminded Bella of the padded cell that she had lived in for fifteen years. She shuddered at the memory. She looked around quickly – Narcissa had her back to her and Snape was closing the front door. Neither of them had seen this moment of weakness. There were books lining all of the walls, a sofa, an armchair and a table arranged in a circle in the middle of the room, lit by the dim, candle filled lamp that hung from the ceiling. They were not pushed up against the walls, probably because they would have covered the books, and the lamp would not have reached them. It made the room feel a lot smaller, although when compared to the large and luxurious rooms of all of the houses that she had lived in, the room was absolutely tiny. Narcissa had sat down on the sofa, throwing her cloak onto one of the arms. Bella did not sit. She stood behind her sister, removing her hood from her head, but leaving the cloak on. She stared at Snape, without dropping her gaze, as he sat down on the armchair opposite them. "So, what can I do for you?" Snape asked Narcissa.

"We … we are alone, aren't we?" Narcissa asked quietly.

"Yes, of course. Well, Wormtail's here, but we're not counting vermin, are we?" He pointed his wand at one of the walls of books, and with a bang, a hidden door opened. Through the door, Bella could see a narrow staircase where she could see the small figure of Wormtail. "As you have clearly realised, Wormtail, we have guests."


	12. The flashback...

Bella suddenly realised that Wormtail had been one of Sirius' best friends when he had been at school, and in that instant, her mind left the gloomy sitting room and went back to her cousin. She remembered how he and Regulus had played in the sitting room in their house at Christmas – Sirius was eight years younger than she was, so she hadn't seen much of them, as she was at Hogwarts for most of the year. But she had known, even at such a young age that he was different to the rest of them. She had watched him grow up during her holidays, and could see that he was unlikely to be in Slytherin. It had been one Christmas, when he was seven and she was fifteen that his parents seemed to notice it for the first time. The adults had been talking, and one of them had said 'Mudblood' – he kept questioning why they used that word. He knew that it was not a nice way to refer to someone whose parents were Muggles, so he didn't understand why the adults used it. He kept questioning. Bella had tried to tell him without words to stop, just to keep quiet. She had seen the looks of his parents in her own parent's eyes. When they had confronted her about Joshua the summer after her first year at Hogwarts. The first time that they had used an Unforgivable Curse on her. They had hit her before this, and some of the beatings had left scars, just has Penelope had noticed that first day on the train. She had been twelve the first time her parents had used Crucio on her. He had only been seven. She was convinced that this Christmas had changed him permanently, and it had been after this that he had become less and less like a Slytherin. By the next Christmas, Bella almost did not recognise her cousin. He was more rebellious and outspoken than she had ever seen him before. He was scarred too. She noticed it one morning when he came out of the bathroom. There were many Crucio scars mixed in with the scars from regular beatings. She had tried to talk to him, to explain that if he only kept quiet and obeyed his parents, they would not hurt him anymore. He had just looked at her and said "but if I don't try to change their perspective, who will? They will never change. And anyway, if they aren't hurting me, they'll probably hurt Reg, and I can't let that happen. He has to be safe. He's the only reason why I keep on. I know that I'm different from the rest of the family, Bella, but by being more extreme about my differences, they focus on me and not him. This is the only way I can think of to make sure that he doesn't get scarred too!" Bella remembered how she had wished then that she had his courage. She just hugged him instead of telling him however, as she knew that he would try and persuade her to tell her parents that she disagreed with their views and opinions, and she knew that she wasn't strong enough to stand up to them. So she stayed silent, hugging her eight year old cousin, who was far too small to be shouldering such a burden. She wished with all her heart that she could take that burden from him, but she knew that she couldn't. Their parents were far too strong to be stood up to without being beaten down. Ironically, he had been the final reason why she had decided to become a Death Eater and join the Dark Lord. She had hoped that by doing this, she would be able to protect both her little sisters and cousins. But it had not worked. Narcissa was the only one who she had been able to protect, and that was simply because Narcissa was never outspoken about her beliefs. Bella knew that she had fewer pureblood beliefs than people might believe, but she was good with words. She knew the right things to say at the right time that would not arouse suspicions. That was the reason why she was still ok. Andromeda had been disowned by the family for marrying her husband, and as for her little cousins? Well both of them were dead. She had failed in her mission to protect her family.

Bella was brought out of her reverie as a glass was pressed into her hand. "The Dark Lord" Snape said, draining his glass. Bella drained hers. Snape refilled it. She was glad to realise that she had not stopped glowering at Snape, that her memories had not shown on her face. If he had seen weakness in her face, she would no longer be the emotionless person that she displayed to everyone. Snape would have known that she had a weakness. And this weakness was currently consuming her from the inside. The guilt. The grief. The knowledge that if she had acted all those years ago, life might be different. The Dark Lord might not be in power. Regulus and Sirius might still be alive. Andromeda would probably still have married Ted Tonks, but they might have been on speaking terms. She would certainly be a much kinder person. She wouldn't be portraying a detached and unemotional person. Narcissa's life would not be in danger. For this was why they were here. This was the reason that Narcissa had sought Snape's help.

Bella suddenly became aware that her sister was speaking now. "Severus, I know I ought not to be here, I have been told to say nothing to anyone, but –"

"Then you ought to hold your tongue! Particularly in present company!" she said this with such ferocity and anger that she almost surprised herself. She knew that it was because of her own grief and guilt, but she could not stop it pouring out of her now. At least Snape was here to take the brunt of her anger. They had had a shared animosity since the Dark Lord had returned a year ago.

"Present company? And what am I to understand by that, Bellatrix?" Snape said contemptuously.

"That I don't trust you, Snape, as you very well know!" Narcissa let out a sob, Bella had heard her do this frequently over the past few days, and burried her face in her hands.

"Narcissa, I think we ought to hear what Bellatrix is bursting to say; it will save tedious interruptions. Well, continue, Bellatrix. Why is it that you do not trust me?"

"A hundred reasons!" She said loudly, "Where to start! Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him when he vanished? What have you been doing all these years that you've lived in Dumbledore's pocket? Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the Philosopher's Stone? Why did you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at you mercy for five years?" All the anger that she had had inside of her had burst out in such a short amount of time that she was almost surprised. Her outburst at Snape had made her feel much better, but she knew that it would not make her feel better for long. Nothing made her feel better for long these days.

"Before I answer you – oh yes, Bellatrix, I am going to answer! You can carry my words back to the others who whisper behind my back, and carry false tales of my treachery to the Dark Lord! Before I answer you, I say, let me ask a question in turn. Do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not been able to give satisfactory answers, I would still be sitting here talking to you?"

"I know he believes you, but …"

"You think he is mistaken? Or that I have somehow hoodwinked him? Fooled the Dark Lord, the greatest wizard, the most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever seen?" Bella knew that his reply made sense, but she still did not trust him. She knew that he must have satisfied the Dark Lord with his answers, but she also knew that Snape is an accomplished Occlumens, so he could have been able to deceive him. "You asked where I was when the Dark Lord fell. I was where he had ordered me to be, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, because he wished me to spy upon Albus Dumbledore. You know, I presume, that it was upon the Dark Lord's orders that I took up the post?" She nodded slowly, not saying anything, fearing that Snape would detect the grief and guilt in her voice, rather than the anger she had towards him. "You ask why I did not attempt to find him when he vanished. For the same reason that Avery, Yaxley, the Carrows, Greyback, Lucius" here, he bowed his head slightly to Narcissa, "and many others did not attempt to find him. I believed him finished. I am not proud of it, I was wrong, but there it is. … If he had not forgiven we who lost faith at that time, he would have very few followers left."

"He'd have me! I, who spent many years in Azkaban for him!" Bella said. She was careful to allow passion and fire to enter her voice, but nothing else.

"Yes, indeed, most admirable, of course you weren't a lot of use to him in prison, but the gesture was undoubtedly fine –"

"Gesture! While I endured the dementors, you remained at Hogwarts, comfortably playing Dumbledore's pet!" She shrieked. She knew that he was trying to enrage her, and if it hadn't been for how she was feeling at the moment, he undoubtedly would not have succeeded. But she was glad to shout at Snape. He deserved it.

"Not quite," Snape said calmly, which infuriated Bella all the more. "He wouldn't give me the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse … tempt me into my old ways."

"So this was your sacrifice for the Dark Lord, not to teach your favourite subject? Why did you stay there all that time, Snape? Still spying on Dumbledore for a master you believed dead?"

"Hardly, although the Dark Lord is pleased that I never deserted my post: I had sixteen years of information on Dumbledore to give him when he returned, a rather more useful welcome-back present than endless reminiscences of how unpleasant Azkaban is. …"

"But you stayed –"

"Yes, Bellatrix, I stayed" said Snape slightly impatiently, which pleased Bella. "I had a comfortable job that I preferred to a stint in Azkaban. They were rounding up the Death Eaters, you know. Dumbledore's protection kept me out of jail; it was most convenient and I used it. I repeat: The Dark Lord does not complain that I stayed, so I do not see why you do. I think you next wanted to know why I stood between the Dark Lord and the Philosopher's Stone. That is easily answered. He did not know whether he could trust me. He thought, like you, that I had turned from faithful Death Eater to Dumbledore's stooge. He was in a pitiable condition, very weak, sharing the body of a mediocre wizard. He did not dare reveal himself to a former ally if that ally might turn him over to Dumbledore or the Ministry. I deeply regret that he did not trust me. He would have returned to power three years sooner. As it was, I saw only greedy and unworthy Quirrell attempting to steal the stone and, I admit, I did all I could to thwart him."

Bella did not know whether to believe him. He was certainly able to tell this story with ease, but was it just a bit too rehearsed? "But you didn't return when he came back, you didn't fly back to him at once when you felt the Dark Mark burn –"

"Correct. I returned two hours later. I returned on Dumbledore's orders."

"On Dumbledore's –?"

"Think! Think! By waiting two hours, just two hours, I ensured that I could remain at Hogwarts as a spy! By allowing Dumbledore to think that I was only returning to the Dark Lord's side because I was ordered to, I have been able to pass information on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix ever since! Consider, Bellatrix: The Dark Mark had been growing stronger for months. I knew he must be about to return, all the Death Eaters knew! I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do, to plan my next move, to escape like Karkaroff, didn't I?

The Dark Lord's initial displeasure at my lateness vanished entirely, I assure you, when I explained that I remained faithful, although Dumbledore though I was his man. Yes, the Dark Lord thought that I had left him forever, but he was wrong."

"But what use have you been? What useful information have we had from you?" Bella sneered.

"My information has been conveyed directly to the Dark Lord, if he chooses not to share it with you –"

"He shares everything with me!" Bella was angry again. "He calls me his most loyal, his most faithful –"

"Does he? Does he still, after the fiasco at the Ministry?"

"That was not my fault! The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious – if Lucius hadn't –"

"Don't you dare – don't you dare blame my husband!" Narcissa's voice was not loud and angry, but low and deadly. She looked up at Bella, who could see the fury behind her sister's eyes. But there was something else there. A steely determination that Bella did not recognise. Was this the mother inside of her? Bella was not a mother. She did not know the strength that Draco gave Narcissa, but she could see it.

"there is no point apportioning blame. What is done, is done." Snape interrupted smoothly.

"But not by you! No you were once again absent while the rest of us ran dangers, were you not, Snape?" Bella was furious now.

"My orders were to remain behind. Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord, perhaps you think that Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with the Death Eaters to fight the Order of the Phoenix? And – forgive me – you speak of dangers … you were facing six teenagers, were you not?"

"They were joined, as you very well know, by half of the Order before long!" Bella snarled. "And, while we are on the subject of the Order, you still claim you cannot reveal the whereabouts of their headquarters, don't you?"

"I am not the Secret-Keeper; I cannot speak the name of the place. You understand how the enchantment works, I think? The Dark Lord is satisfied with the information I have passed him on the Order. It led, as perhaps you have guessed, to the recent capture and murder of Emmeline Vance, and it certainly helped dispose of Sirius Black, though I give you full credit for finishing him off." He toasted her. Bella's stomach churned at these words. He couldn't possibly know that she regretted killing her cousin more than anyone could understand.

"You are avoiding my last question, Snape. Harry Potter. You could have killed him at any point in the past five years. You have not done it. Why?"

"Have you discussed this matter with the Dark Lord?" Snape asked her.

"He … lately, we … I am asking you, Snape!" Bella was angry that he had asked this. The Dark Lord had hardly spoken to anyone since the prophecy had been lost.

"If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could not have used his blood to regenerate, making him invincible –"

"You claim you foresaw his use of the boy!" Bella jeered. Nobody had known this plan, except Wormtail. He had been the only one outside of Azkaban who had gone back to the Dark Lord. If it hadn't been for Wormtail, Sirius would still be alive. How ironic that this weak person had caused the death of two of his best friends.

"I do not claim it; I had no idea of his plans; I have already confessed that I thought the Dark Lord dead. I am merely trying to explain why the Dark Lord is not sorry that Potter survived, at least until a year ago. …"

"But why did you keep him alive?"

"Have you not understood me? It was only Dumbledore's protection that was keeping me out of Azkaban! Do you disagree that murdering his favourite student might have turned him against me? But there was more to it than that. I should remind you that when Potter first arrived at Hogwarts there were still many stories circulating around him, rumours that he himself was a great Dark wizard, which was how he had survived the Dark Lord's attack. Indeed, many of the Dark Lord's old followers thought Potter might be a standard around which we could all rally once more. I was curious, I admit it, and not at all inclined to murder him the moment he set food in the castle.

"Of course, it became apparent to me very quickly that he had no extraordinary talent at all. He has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and more talented friends. He is mediocre to the last degree, though as obnoxious and self-satisfied as was his father before him. I have done my utmost to have him thrown out of Hogwarts, where I believe he scarcely belongs, but kill him, or allow him to be killed in front of me? I would have been a fool to risk it with Dumbledore close at hand."

"And through all this, we are supposed to believe Dumbledore has never suspected you? He has no idea of your true allegiance, he trusts you implicitly still?" Bella asked incredulously.

"I have played my part well, and you overlook Dumbledore's greatest weakness: He has to believe the best of people. I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms – though, as I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help. Dumbledore has been a great wizard …" Bella scoffed, "oh yes, he has, the Dark Lord acknowledges it. I am pleased to say, however, that Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions are slower than they once were. But through all these years, he has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value to the Dark Lord.

"Now … you came to ask me for help, Narcissa?"

Narcissa looked at Snape, her face full of despair. "Yes, Severus. I – I think you are the only one who can help me, I have nowhere else to turn. Lucius is in jail and …" Narcissa closed her eyes, and two tears rolled down her cheeks. "The Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it. He wishes none to know of the plan. It is … very secret. But –"

"If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak. The Dark Lord's word is law." Snape said quickly.

Narcissa gasped. Bella felt satisfied, and did not care who knew it. "There! Even Snape says so: You were told not to talk, so hold your silence!" She said triumphantly.

Snape had stood up, peered through the curtains at the deserted street, and closed them again quickly. "It so happens that I know of the plan. I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord."

"I thought you must know about it! He trusts you so, Severus. …" Narcissa was breathing more freely now. It was clear to Bella that she was feeling relieved.

"You know of the plan? You know?" Bella was no longer feeling satisfied. She was outraged that Snape knew of this most secret of plans.

"Certainly. But what help do you require, Narcissa? If you are imagining I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is no hope, none at all." Snape said.

"Severus, my son … my only son …" More tears were rolling down Narcissa's face now.

"Draco should be proud. The Dark Lord is granting him a great honour. And I will say this for Draco: He isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems to be glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect –" Bella said this with no emotion in her voice – she was doing her best to keep how she was feeling from showing. She knew that if her emotions showed in her voice, she would be finished. Snape would never listen to her again, and Narcissa was so caught up with her own issues that she would not stop to help Bella.

"That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius's mistake, I know it!" Narcissa was almost screaming now, tears pouring down her face. "That's why he's chosen Draco, isn't it? To punish Lucius?"

"If Draco succeeds, he will be honoured above all others." Snape had looked away from Narcissa's tear filled eyes, as if he could not bear to see her looking like this. So weak and fragile, but at the same time with a ferocity and determination to do all that she could to save her son.

"But he won't succeed! How can he, when the Dark Lord himself –?" Narcissa sobbed desperately. Bella gasped, which made Narcissa lose her nerve. "I only meant … that nobody has yet succeeded … Severus … please … you are, you have always been, Draco's favourite teacher. … You are Lucius's old friend. … I beg you. … You are the Dark Lord's favourite, his most trusted advisor. … Will you speak to him, persuade him –?"

"The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not stupid enough to attempt it," Snape said flatly. "I cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got himself captured, along with how many others, and failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed."

"Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge! He does not mean him to succeed, he wants him to be killed trying!" Narcissa was still sobbing. Snape said nothing, and Narcissa lost the little self-restraint that she had had until that moment. She fell at Snape's feet and seized the front of his robes. She gasped "You could do it. You could do it instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of course you would, and he would reward you beyond all of us –"

Snape grabbed hold of her wrists, and pulled her off of him. He looked into her eyes and said "He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my useful role as spy."

"In other words, it doesn't matter to him if Draco is killed!"

"The Dark Lord is very angry. He failed to hear the prophecy. You know as well as I do, Narcissa, that he does not forgive easily." Snape said quietly. Narcissa crumpled, and laid sobbing and moaning on the floor.

"My only son … my only son …"

"You should be proud! If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the service of the Dark Lord!" Bella said ruthlessly. Narcissa screamed despairingly, and clutched at her long blonde hair. Snape bent down, picked her up and guided her back to the sofa. He poured her some more wine and pushed the glass into her hand.

"Narcissa, that's enough. Drink this. Listen to me." Narcissa's sobs began to slow, and spilling wine down her front as her hands were shaking, took a small sip. "It might be possible … for me to help Draco."

"Severus – oh, Severus – you would help him? Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?"

"I can try."

Narcissa dropped her glass, got back up off of the sofa and flung herself at Snape's feet, grabbed hold of his hand and kissed it.

"If you are there to protect him … Severus, will you swear it? Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?"

"The Unbreakable Vow?"

"Aren't you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he'll try, I'm sure. … The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of action … oh, on the Dark Lord's orders, of course!" Bella was laughing, a hint of triumph in her mirth. She knew that Snape would try and wriggle out of anything that might get him killed. She had known that coming here had been a mistake. Narcissa was just going to be disappointed.

"Certainly, Narcissa, I shall make the Unbreakable Vow. Perhaps your sister will consent to be our Bonder. You will need your wand, Bellatrix, and you will need to move a little closer." Bella was astonished – Snape was going to make the Unbreakable Vow? She drew her wand and moved closer to where Narcissa and Snape were now holding each other's right hand. They were still crouched on the floor, so Bella towered over them as she placed the tip of her wand on their linked hands.

"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfil the Dark Lord's wishes?"

"I will," said Snape. A thin line of brilliant flame came out of Bella's wand, and wound its way around their hands.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"I will." A second line of flame intertwined with the first as it wound around their hands.

"And, should it prove necessary … if it seems Draco will fail … will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

"I will." A third tongue of flame shot from her wand, twisted with the others and bound itself around Snape and Narcissa's clasped hands, like a fiery serpent.

The two fell apart and sat on the floor. Narcissa was crying again. "Thank you, Severus" she managed to sob. She looked up at Bellatrix, who was still stunned that Snape had agreed to take the Unbreakable Vow.

"You're welcome, Narcissa." He stood up, and poured three more glasses of wine. They each drank. "You should go – I will not tell anyone that you came here tonight, and I expect you will not either. I will also make sure that Wormtail says nothing" he said after they had finished their drinks.

"Yes, of course, thank you, Severus." Narcissa said simply. Bella just nodded. Snape showed them to the door. The two sisters walked into the night.

"We shouldn't have gone there tonight, Cissy" Bella hissed as they walked back through the muggle town. "If the Dark Lord ever finds out –"

"Well he won't find out" Narcissa snapped. "None of us are going to say anything about what happened tonight. Nobody except the three of us will know that Severus made the Unbreakable Vow; Wormtail only knows that we went to the house tonight – he does not know the purpose of our visit or the outcome. Nobody needs to ever know what has happened here tonight." She apparated, presumably back to Malfoy Manor, and Bella followed.


	13. Back at Malfoy Manor

Once Bella was back at Malfoy Manor, she went up to the room that she had been staying in. It was a large room with a large four-poster bed and large windows which made the room feel light and airy. She cast a silencing charm on the door so that nobody would be able to hear her, sat down on the bed and for the first time in a very long time, she allowed herself to cry. These tears had been building up for weeks, ever since that night at the Ministry, but tonight was the first night that she knew she would not be interrupted. Narcissa was probably so relieved at the outcome of their meeting with Snape that she would spend the evening by the fire in the drawing room – she did this when she was happy – Lucius was in Azkaban, Draco would not bother her in her room and the Dark Lord was not in the house. So Bella sat on the bed, safe in the knowledge that she would not be disturbed as she finally allowed herself to grieve her cousin. To finally acknowledge these feelings, rather than supress them and allow them to explode when she was angry, as she had been tonight.

Eventually, the tears dried up, and Bella found herself laying curled up on the bed. She hadn't closed the curtains, and the sun was beginning to rise. She was starting to get hungry but, looking at her bloodshot eyes in the mirror, knew she could not venture out of the room yet. If she was seen looking like this, she would be discovered. They would know that she had been crying all night, and would find out why. So Bella sat back down on the bed, thinking about her cousin, and how much she regretted not being able to protect him. She thought all about her own childhood and how much she now wished to have been sorted into Hufflepuff. If she had been, she might not now be in this mess. She might have been even more scarred physically – her parents, after that first time they had used the Cruciatus Curse on her, had not refrained from using Unforgivable Curses to harm her if she did something wrong. Bella knew that Narcissa was the least scarred out of her sisters, as she was the youngest so had learned at a much earlier age what the consequences of wrong-doing would be, and she had pleased their parents. Andromeda had married a muggle-born, and her father had cursed her for so long when she told him that she was almost driven insane.

This line of musing caused Bella to think of Frank and Alice Longbottom. They really had gone insane, and it had all been because of Bella. Looking back, Bella realised that she had been wrong to push the Aurors for so long, but at the time she had been convinced that they had information. Information that would help her bring back the Dark Lord. But she had been wrong. She had seen it in Alice's face, and she had done nothing to stop the torture. What did that say about her? What did it say about Bella that she could not say to her husband, brother-in-law, and close friend – was he really a close friend though? They had been in the Dark Lord's inner circle but that made them merely acquaintances rather than friends – that they needed to stop? Looking back, Bella wished that she had had the courage to say that the Aurors knew nothing. Looking back, Bella realised that she would do almost anything to go back and stop the return of the Dark Lord. She would do almost anything to stop him rising to power in the first place. If it weren't for the Dark Lord, Sirius and Regulus would both be alive, she would not be feeling such enormous weights of guilt and shame and she might actually be happy rather than slightly insane. Bella realised that she was crying again, and wiped her eyes.

She thought briefly of Neville Longbottom, the boy from whom she had taken almost everything, but was so strong. This boy who should have grown up with parents who loved and cherished him, but who instead had lived a life probably full of misery as he visited the parents who no longer remembered who he was. It was all her fault. NO! It was all the Dark Lord's fault. He had started this. He had started the war which had killed her cousins, and in a way, which had killed her. She may have put up walls during her time at Hogwarts, but she had always had doubts about her family's morals and point of view. It hadn't been until she had begun to spend time with the Dark Lord, she now realised, that she had lost her morality. Or perhaps more accurately, she had pushed her conscience so far away, and locked it so deep within herself that she could not hear the doubts that she had once had. But she realised them now. She realised that she had once been a little girl on the Hogwarts Express who was saddened by the fact that the other girl she had met didn't want to be friends with her anymore because of the connotations of the house that she was likely to be placed in. The house which she had essentially asked to be in because she knew the wrath that she would face from her parents if she had been placed in Hufflepuff. It felt to Bella that a huge weight had been lifted off of her since she had come to this realisation, but it soon fell back onto her as an even darker realisation came to her. She would never be able to tell these thoughts to anyone. If the Dark Lord ever found out that she blamed him for the evil person she had become today, he would kill her. That thought didn't bother her – she felt as though she deserved to die, she had done such horrible things – but she knew that he would also kill her entire family. And she could not think about more of her family dying because of her.

Bella now knew that she would have to create a façade if she was going to succeed in deceiving the Dark Lord. Perhaps she and Snape were more alike than she had originally thought. Bella was still convinced that Snape had been hiding something, both from her and the Dark Lord; she just didn't know what it was. Bella looked into the mirror again, and saw that she now looked as though she had had a bad night's sleep, rather than that she had been crying all night. If anyone saw her and asked about it, she would simply say that she had been unable to get to sleep. She went downstairs, and saw to her relief that there was nobody in the dining room. The table was empty, so Bella went into the kitchen to get some food. The Malfoy's no longer had a House-Elf, as Dobby had accidentally been set free, so Bella buttered some bread and took it back up to her room – she still didn't want to talk to anyone as she debated with herself how best to deceive the Dark Lord. In the end, she decided to modify her memory of the night, so that she still remembered the whole conversation with Snape and Narcissa, but removed all of the feelings of guilt and shame, as well as her recollections about Sirius during their childhood. She also removed everything she had thought about that morning – how it was all the Dark Lord's fault that her family had been torn apart, how she wished that he had never risen to power, and how she deeply regretted becoming one of his servants and everything that she had done in his name.

Completing memory modifications on oneself is a mentally exhausting exercise and Bella fell asleep as soon as she had done it. She awoke a few hours later feeling very refreshed, and having no memory of what she had done. She still felt guilty about Sirius' death, but had no recollection of any feelings from the previous night. Bella was such a proficient witch that she was oblivious to the fact that she had never gone to sleep after coming back from Snape's. Her new perspective was that she had come back to Malfoy Manor, gone up to her bedroom, fallen asleep quickly and deeply and had only just awoken. It was only seven thirty in the morning, which was not an unusual time for her to wake up, so she got up and went down to breakfast where she found Narcissa eating some toast.


	14. The meeting at the Manor

Bella was sat at the long, ornate table in the drawing room at Malfoy Manor – the furniture which usually filled the room had been pushed to the sides to accommodate the long table. The room had not been lit well, at the Dark Lord's request. Slowly revolving above the table was a woman. Bella was not sure who she was, but knew that there was a reason for her presence in the room. She appeared to be unconscious, as she was not saying anything and her eyes looked to be closed. The figure was placed above the middle of the table, where Bella was sat, beside Narcissa, who was next to Lucius, who was next to Draco. None of the Malfoy's looked particularly pleased with the way the evening was going, but Draco in particular looked extremely uncomfortable. The rest of the chairs around the table were filled by Death Eaters, although two were empty, apart from the head of the table. This was where the Dark Lord was sitting. He was beginning to look impatient – the two who were missing were almost late for the meeting. Bella hoped that Snape would be late. Then the Dark Lord would not be pleased with him. The door to the drawing room opened – Yaxley and Snape walked into the room.

"Yaxley, Snape, you are nearly late." The Dark Lord said in his high, clear voice. He was sat in front of the fireplace, which made it difficult to see his face properly if you were not accustomed to the dimness of the room. "Severus, here" the Dark Lord said, indicating the seat to his right. "Yaxley – beside Dolohov." Bella watched as the new arrivals took their places at the table. "So?" the Dark Lord asked Snape.

"My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall."

"Saturday … at nightfall," the Dark Lord repeated. He fixed Snape with his red eyes that could see everything. "Good. Very good. And this information comes –"

"– from the source we discussed," Snape replied calmly.

"My Lord." It was Yaxley who had spoken, leaning forward from his position next to Dolohov at the far end of the table. Everyone turned to look at him. "My Lord, I have heard differently." Yaxley paused, as if expecting the Dark Lord to say something, but he did not, so Yaxley continued. "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen." Bella turned to look to the other end of the table – Snape was smiling.

"My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible," Snape said.

"I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," Yaxley persisted.

"If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain. I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror office will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry," Snape retorted.

"The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" It was Amycus Carrow who had spoken, and he began to laugh wheezily, which echoed around the room.

"My Lord, Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy–" The Dark Lord held up a hand to stop Yaxley, and turned back to Snape.

"Where are they going to hide the boy next?"

"At the home of one of the Order. The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest."

"Well, Yaxley? Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?"

"My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have – with difficulty, and after great effort – succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse," Yaxley said. Bella noticed that most of the people around the table looked impressed at this statement, and Dolohov clapped Yaxley on his back. The Dark Lord, however, did not look impressed.

"It is a start, but Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."

"Yes – my Lord, that is true – but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can work together to bring Scrimgeour down."

"As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," the Dark Lord said. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels."

"We are at an advantage there, my Lord. We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately." Yaxley seemed determined to get some approval from the Dark Lord, which Bella found pitiful.

"He will not do either. The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place," Snape said.

"All the better," said the Dark Lord. "He will have to move in the open. Easier to take, by far." The Dark Lord glanced up at the slowly revolving body before continuing. "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs. Bella hoped that the Dark Lord wouldn't say anything about the shambles at the Ministry – she hated being in the Dark Lords bad books. Looking around, she saw that most of the other Death Eaters seemed to be thinking the same thing. None of them wanted to be blamed for the fact that Harry Potter still lived.

"I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be." There was suddenly a loud and terrible groan of misery and pain – it seemed almost to have come in response to what the Dark Lord had just said. Bella and the Malfoys were used to this occasional cry from the cellar, having lived with it for more than a year. Many of the other Death Eaters around the table jumped and seemed startled at the sound. "Wormtail, have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet?" The Dark Lord had not changed the tone of his voice, nor had he stopped looking at the revolving body.

"Yes, m-my Lord," Wormtail gasped. He hurriedly scrambled from his seat, scampered to the door and out of the room.

"As I was saying," the Dark Lord continued, "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter." The Death Eaters all looked shocked, as if he had declared that he wanted to borrow an arm from one of them. "No volunteers? Let's see … Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore." Malfoy looked up. His skin looked yellow and waxy in the light from the fire, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. That was what his time in Azkaban had done to him, although Bella expected that having the Dark Lord living in his house had also affected his appearance.

"My Lord?" He asked.

"Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."

"I …"Bella saw Lucius glance towards Narcissa, who was looking straight ahead, also pale in the firelight. Bella could see that under the table, she grasped his wrist quickly, before letting go. At this signal from his wide, Malfoy reached into his robes and pulled out his wand. He passed it along to Narcissa, who passed it to Bella, who passed it to Rookwood who was on her other side. Eventually it reached the Dark Lord. He examined the wand closely.

"What is it?"

"Elm, my Lord," Malfoy whispered.

"And the core?"

"Dragon – dragon heartsting."

"Good," said the Dark Lord. He pulled his own wand from his robes and compared the lengths of the two wands. Lucius moved his arm. It seemed as though, for a fraction of a second, that he expected to receive the Dark Lord's wand in exchange for his own. The Dark Lord noticed.

"Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?" Some of those around the table sniggered. "I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less happy of late. … What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"

"Nothing – nothing, my Lord!"

"Such lies, Lucius …" The Dark Lord's soft hiss seemed to continue after he had stopped speaking. A couple of the Death Eaters barely managed to repress a shudder as the hissing grew louder; something heavy was sliding across the floor underneath the table. Nagini reached the Dark Lords chair and climbed up it. She eventually came to rest on his shoulders, and he stroked it, all the while looking straight at Lucius.

"Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"

"Of course, my Lord," Malfoy said, a tremble in his voice. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it – we do."

"My Lord," Bella interjected, "it is an honour to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no greater pleasure."

"No higher pleasure," the Dark Lord repeated. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you." These words delighted Bella because she knew that the Dark Lord was pleased with her unwavering service. She felt tears of delight prick her eyes.

"My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"

"No higher pleasure … even compared with the happy even that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?"

Bella was confused. She was not sure what event the Dark Lord was referring to. "I don't know what you mean, my Lord."

"I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud."

All of the Death Eaters around the table began to laugh and jeer at Bella and the Malfoys, which enraged her. She didn't control the girl. Why was it her fault that she had married the werewolf? She decided to fight back, as she had done the whole of her adult life. "She is no niece of ours, my Lord!" Bella cried. "We – Narcissa and I – have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."

"What say you, Draco?" The Dark Lord asked in his quiet voice, which somehow managed to carry over the laughing and jeering which still emanated from around the table. "Will you babysit the cubs?" This made the Death Eaters laugh even harder.

"Enough, enough" the Dark Lord said. "Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time. You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."

"Yes, my Lord," Bella whispered. She felt a wave of gratitude for her master, for it seemed that he was allowing them to redeem themselves. "At the first chance!"

"You shall have it, and in your family, so in the world … we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain. …" The Dark Lord raised Lucius' wand and pointed it to the still slowly revolving figure above the table. The figure suddenly came to life with a groan and began to struggle against the invisible bonds which held them.

"Do you recognise our guest, Severus?"

Snape looked up, as did all the other Death Eaters, as if they had been given permission to be curious about this person.

"Severus! Help me!" Bella heard that the prisoner was a woman. She had spoken with such terror in her voice that Bella almost felt pity for her. However she must have done something to antagonise the Dark Lord if she was here, at the meeting of the Death Eaters.

"Ah, yes," Snape said.

"And you, Draco?" Bella could see her nephew out of the corner of her eye. He shook his head, rather jerkily. She noticed that now the woman was awake, Draco did not seem to want to look at her any more.

"But you would not have taken her classes. For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Bella now understood why this woman was here. There were murmurs of comprehension from around the table as other Death Eaters came to understand. Alecto Carrow, a broad and hunched woman with pointed teeth, cackled. She was sat next to her brother, Amycus, at the end of the table furthest from the Dark Lord.

"Yes … Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles … how they are not so different from us …" Avery spat of the floor, and Charity Burbage revolved so that she could see Snape again.

"Severus … please … please …" Bella wondered why the woman seemed to be imploring Snape to save her. Although she did not trust Snape, she knew that he would be unable to do anything to save the woman without losing favour with the Dark Lord. If he did anything, the Dark Lord would come to see that Bella's suspicions were correct. If he did anything, he would also be killed tonight.

"Silence!" The Dark Lord said, pointing Lucius' wand at Burbage, who fell silent immediately. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defence of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance. … She would have us all mate with Muggles … or, no doubt, werewolves. …" None of the Death Eaters were laughing now – the contempt and anger were easy to hear in the Dark Lord's voice. Burbage had spun to face Snape again, and Bella presumed that she was crying as tears were dripping onto the table from where she was suspended.

"Avada Kedavra." The green light which emanated from Lucius' wand lit up the drawing room, and the woman fell with a crash onto the table, which creaked and trembled. Quite a few of the Death Eaters jumped in their chairs, and Bella saw that Draco had jumped so much that he had fallen onto the floor. He might still be a teenager, but he was becoming an embarrassment.

"Dinner, Nagini," the Dark Lord said, and the great snake, which he had been stroking, slithered from his shoulders and ate the woman in one swallow.

Although Bella had been expecting the woman to die, she still felt shock at the sight of the lifeless body being eaten by the snake. She wasn't sure why. She had watched many people die, and had caused many people to die. She had watched Nagini eat many people, both before the Dark Lord fell nearly sixteen years ago and since her escape from Azkaban about a year and a half ago. Nothing had changed about her loyalty to the Dark Lord, so why did this scene make her feel so uncomfortable? Draco had picked himself up off the floor and was now sat back in his seat, but he was not looking at the snake, laying on the table.


	15. When Potter arrived...

Two years had passed since Sirius' death, and although Bella thought about it less and less as time went on, she knew that she would never get over it. It had been so sudden, so unexpected and there had been nothing she could have done to prevent it. She was sat in the drawing room in Malfoy Manor, in the same armchair by the fire that Narcissa had pushed her into that night. This house had become the Dark Lords base of operations, and Bella spent most of her time here now, unless she was sent somewhere by the Dark Lord. There was a commotion in the hallway – Bella listened and decided to leave the drawing room. Surely this was where they would come, whoever had come to the house, and she was not in the mood to talk to anyone. As she stood up, the door farthest from the hallway opened, and Lucius was there, obviously drawn to the sound of people, just as it was pushing her away. She strode quickly to the door and closed it just as Narcissa opened the other one. She skulked outside the door, listening to what was being said.

"What is this?" Lucius asked Narcissa. He had been broken out of Azkaban, but he definitely looked worse for having been there.

"They say they've got Potter. Draco, come here." Narcissa replied. These words made Bella feel something other than anger – she felt excited. If they had Potter at last, the Dark Lord would be pleased with them.

"Well, boy?" Fenrir Greyback rasped at Draco.

"Well, Draco? Is it? Is it Harry Potter?" Lucius asked his son.

"I can't – I can't be sure" Draco said.

"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!" Lucius was also excited at the prospect of being back in the Dark Lords good books. Bella could hear it in his voice. "Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv–"

"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?" Greyback said menacingly.

"Of course not, of course not" Lucius said impatiently. "What did you do to him? How did he get into this state?" He asked Greyback.

"That wasn't us" Greyback said quickly.

"Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me" Lucius said. "There's something there, it could be the scar, stretched tight. … Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"

"I don't know" Draco said.

"We had better be certain Lucius. Completely sure that this is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord … They say this is his, but it does not resemble Ollivander's description … if we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for

nothing ... remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?" Narcissa was saying this while examining a blackthorn wand.

"What about the Mudblood, then?" Greyback asked.

"Wait. Yes – yes, she was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the Prophet! Look, Draco, isn't this the Granger girl?"

"I … maybe … yeah" Draco said despondently. Bella wondered why.

"But then, that's the Weasley boy! It's them, Potter's friends – Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name –?"

"Yeah it could be" Draco said.

Bella was excited again; it was almost certainly Potter if both of his friends were there. She opened the door and strode in, putting on the mask that she wore so often nowadays. The mask that she had been cultivating for thirty-six years. The one that hid her true emotions, even from her sister. "What is this? What's happened, Cissy?" She walked over to examine the prisoners for herself. "But surely, this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"

"Yes, yes, it's Granger. And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!" Lucius was so excited, Bella was surprised he wasn't bouncing with joy.

"Potter?" she shrieked "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She wanted to get the upper hand on Lucius. She had been more faithful than he ever was. She deserved to tell the Dark Lord.

"I was about to call him!" Lucius said. He had grabbed her wrist so that she could not summon the Dark Lord herself. This enraged her so much that she was tempted to hex him. "I shall summon him, Bella, Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority–"

"Your authority" she sneered at him, while trying to break free from his grip "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"

"This boy is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy–" Lucius snapped at her.

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy, but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold–" Greyback interjected.

"Gold!" she laughed "take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honour of his – of –" She saw the sword. No! How could they have it? How could they get into her vault? It was impossible. Lucius had drawn back his sleeve and was about to summon the Dark Lord. "STOP! Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now! What is that?" she snapped at the snatcher holding the sword. The sword of Gryffindor.

"Sword" he grunted.

"Give it to me."

"It's not yorn, missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it." She could not be dealing with idiots like this. Not today. She Stunned him.

"What d'you think you're playing at, woman?" Scaboir asked.

"Stupefy! Stupefy!" She screamed. None of them understood the danger that they were all in. She had Stunned all of them apart from the werewolf now. She picked up the sword and moved towards him. "Where did you get this sword?" she asked him, pulling his wand out of his hand at the same time.

"How dare you? Release me, woman!" he snarled at her.

"Where did you find this sword? Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!" she said.

"It was in their tent. Release me, I say" Greyback rasped. She did so, but he did not make a move towards her.

"Draco, move this scum outside" she pointed at the Stunned snatchers. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me." She said to him.

"Don't you dare speak to Draco like –" Narcissa said fiercely.

"Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!" She shouted at her sister. She examined the sword. "If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed. The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself … but if he finds out … I must … I must know …" She muttered this to herself before saying more loudly "The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!"

"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my–" Bella was furious!

"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" She shrieked at her sister.

Narcissa hesitated, then said "Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback."

"Wait, all except … except for the Mudblood." Bella instructed.

"No! You can have me, keep me!" It was the ginger haired boy who had spoken. Bella slapped him. She had no time for this.

"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next. Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing to them – yet." She threw Greyback his wand, then cut Granger free using a small silver dagger that she kept under her robes. She pulled Granger away from the others by the hair, and waited for Greyback to take the others away. "Where did you get the sword from" she asked. The girl did not reply. Bella had no time for games, so she went straight for Crucio. That usually opened the tongues of people unwilling to talk. The girl screamed.

"We found it." She sobbed "it was just in the woods so we picked it up!" Bella didn't believe her.

"I don't believe you. I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"

"We found it – we found it – PLEASE!" Bella decided to make a lasting mark on the girl. She began to cut into her arm with the knife. The girl screamed louder and louder.

Bella still didn't believe her. "You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" she shouted this louder and louder. She Crucio'd the girl again. Another scream. "What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!" she held the silver knife up to the girls face.

"We haven't been in your vault! We haven't taken anything of yours! We found the sword!" The girl cried. Bella didn't believe her.

"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!" The girl screamed even louder, but Bella had to know. If they had been in the vault, they had to have been there for more than just the sword. They had to know that the Dark Lord had asked her to keep something safe in there. "How did you get into my vault? Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"

"We only met him tonight! We've never been inside your vault … it isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!" Tears were streaming down her face. Bella was about to curse her again when Lucius spoke.

"But we can find out easily. Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not." Draco nodded and headed out of the room. Bella was breathing heavily – it had been a long time since she had tried to torture information out of someone. It had given her something else to think about. Something other than that night two years ago. A couple of minutes passed before Draco returned with the goblin. They heard a loud crack. "What was that? Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?" Lucius was shouting. "Draco – no, call Wormtail" Make him go and check!" Draco left the room.

Bella gave the goblin the sword to examine, and then went back to torturing the girl.

"What is it Wormtail?" Lucius called.

"Nothing! All fine!" Wormtail called back.

After a couple of minutes torturing the girl, she stood up and looked at the goblin.

"Well? Is it the true sword?"

"No. It is a fake." The goblin told her.

"Are you sure? Quite sure?" She asked him. She needed to be certain.

"Yes" he said. Bella felt the relief spread all through her body.

"Good" she said, and using her wand, she slashed a deep gash in his face. He yelled and fell at her feet. She kicked him. He was nothing. "And now, we call the Dark Lord!" she said triumphantly. She pressed her Dark Mark and felt it burn.

"And I think we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her." She said looking at the werewolf, who looked delighted.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the Weasley boy had run into the room. Bella was shocked, but raised her wand instinctively. "Expelliarmus!" the boy cried, and she felt her wand fly out of her hand. Stunning Spells were being cast from all directions, with Narcissa, Draco, Greyback and the escaped prisoners firing. She bent down, picked up the Mudblood, and held the knife to her throat.

"STOP OR SHE DIES!" she shouted to the room at large. "Drop your wands. Drop them, or we see exactly how filthy her blood is!" The boys did nothing. "I said, drop them!" she pressed the sharp blade of the knife into the girls throat.

"All right!" Potter shouted, dropping her wand that he had picked up. The other boy dropped the wand that he was using too.

"Good! Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approached!" She was delighted! "Now, Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight."

She stopped talking. There was a peculiar grinding noise from above them and she looked up. The crystal chandelier was trembling, and with a jingle, began to fall. Bella screamed, dropped the girl and dived out of the way. The chandelier crashed onto the girl and the goblin, who was still holding the fake sword. Draco had been hit by the glass – his face was bloody.

"Dobby!" Narcissa shrieked suddenly. "You! You dropped the chandelier–?"

The elf walked into the room, saying "you must not hurt Harry Potter"

"Kill him, Cissy!" Bella shouted, but the elf snapped his fingers, there was another loud crack, and Narcissa's wand flew into his hand. "You dirty little monkey! How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?" She shrieked.

"Dobby has no master!" The elf squeeled. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"

"Ron, catch – and GO!" Potter shouted, as he threw a wand at the boy. He and the Mudblood disappeared. Potter ran towards the goblin, pulled him from beneath the chandelier, picked him up and grabbed hold of the elf. Bella knew that she only had a second to act. She threw the knife. It span in mid-air, and disappeared as they disaparated. She hoped that she had got one of them. About five seconds later, the Dark Lord apparated into the room.


	16. A sisterly talk

He was more furious than Bella had ever seen him, and he certainly punished them in his anger. He had told them only to summon him if they had Potter, but he had escaped. Bella could still hardly believe that he was gone. How had he managed it? Where had the elf come from? A thought suddenly dawned on Bella – what about the other prisoners? She certainly wasn't going to be the one to bring the subject up – she did not want to experience the Dark Lord's wrath any more than she had already that night. Everyone in the room seemed to have been struck with the same thought as she heard Lucius mumble "Wormtail" at the same time as the Dark Lord shouted for him. He did not appear, and Bella suddenly knew that the other prisoners had escaped too. Her fears were confirmed when the Dark Lord stormed off, and a couple of minutes later they all heard his scream of rage.

Bella did not remember much about that night, apart from the rage, the hurt, and the despair that she felt. The Dark Lord's anger had been frightening to behold, and the entire house had been forbidden from leaving. That was part of their punishment. Wormtail was dead, killed by his own hand, and the other prisoners had escaped! The wandmaker was gone. Bella hadn't known why exactly the Dark Lord had needed him, but she also knew that it was important to his plan.

The next blow happened about a month after the fiasco at Malfoy Manor, when they had learned that Potter, the Mudblood and the Blood traitor had broken into her vault at Gringotts. When the Dark Lord learnt that they had stolen the cup that he had given to her to keep safe, he was furious. Bella had never seen him as angry as he was that day in the bank. Even the night at Malfoy Manor did not compare. She didn't know what was so special about the cup, but she knew that the trio had stolen it, and it had sent the Dark Lord into such a rage, that he seemed to lose himself for a moment. He lost all of the composure that he had ever had, and killed everyone in sight, apart from her, although she wasn't sure whether this was intentional or not. He didn't seem to have known what he was doing. The Dark Lord had gone immediately from Gringotts, without telling her where he was going, so she went back to Malfoy Manor to await his instructions – that was where he would expect her to be, and she did not want to give him another reason to be angry with her.

As she was sat waiting in the chair by the fire, she suddenly began to remember an evening from almost a year ago. The evening that she and Narcissa had gone to visit Snape, to ask for his help to protect Draco. Bella sat up in the chair. She rapidly began to remember everything she had thought and felt that night, and began to tear up. She quickly went up to her room so that nobody would see her crying, performed the same silencing charm on the door and began to sob, slumped on the floor. She did not know how long she had been crying for, only that she had now stopped and was sat on the floor. She came to the same realisation that she had had that night – the Dark Lord must never find out, especially now that he was so angry with her. She would not allow any more of her family to die because of her. It was late, so Bella knew that nobody would say anything if she slept all night, so she performed another memory modification on herself, and when she awoke the next morning she remembered nothing of her recollection. She did however remember how angry the Dark Lord was with her, so she went back to the chair by the fire in the drawing room, to await his return.

Narcissa was sat in the drawing room, as if she was waiting for Bella to appear. "I have something that I need to ask you," she said, a seriousness in her voice that Bella did not recognise. She sat down in the chair opposite her sister by the fire.

"What is it, Cissy?" All Bella could think about was the Dark Lord's anger.

"There is something happening with you, Bella. On occasional evenings, you get extremely upset, no matter how well you try to hide it, I am your sister and I can see it. You stay in your room all night, and then when you come downstairs in the morning, you seem perfectly happy again. What is happening with you, Bella? I am worried about you!"

Bella was taken aback. She had no idea what her sister was talking about. She could not remember being upset and withdrawing to her room. She remembered the Dark Lord's anger over the previous couple of years, but she did not remember this causing her such distress that she went to her bedroom all evening and night. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Cissy!"

"It happened again last night, Bella. I was about to come into the drawing room to join you, when you rushed out and upstairs. You were crying, Bella." Bella went to say something, but Narcissa stopped her and continued to speak. "You were crying, so I followed you upstairs. I had hoped to comfort you, but when I got to the landing, I saw you quickly close the door. I went to your room, Bella, but I heard you cast a silencing spell on the door so that nobody would be able to hear you. I was so worried about you – I knocked on your door, but you didn't answer. I don't know if you cast a double-sided charm so that you couldn't hear anything either but you didn't answer me, even when I shouted your name through the door. I couldn't bare it knowing you were crying alone and I could do nothing to help you, so I got my broom, and flew up to your window. You had pulled the curtains, but hadn't locked them. So I unlocked the window, and was about to come in when I heard what you were crying about. It was Sirius, Bella. You were sobbing his name. I really wanted to comfort you, Bella, but I knew that I couldn't intrude on this, so I stayed sat on the windowsill, listening." Bella was furious.

"I have no idea what you are on about, Cissy, and even if I did, how dare you? How dare you come into my room like that? According to you, it was clear that I wanted to be left alone, but you didn't! You spied on me doing something that I don't even remember!" Bella was slightly scared now. If Narcissa was telling the truth, then she had spent all evening crying about the death of her cousin, but she could remember none of it. Why?

"I know why you don't remember last night, Bella," Narcissa said softly. She had leant forward and was holding Bella's hand. "You cast a Memory Charm on yourself. You didn't want to remember, but I don't know why. You currently don't know why either. There is a way that we can both find out. Let me reverse it for you, Bella. Let's work out why you want to forget Sirius' death and what we can do about it. Let me help you, Bella. I know you haven't truly let anyone in in a very long time, but please, I'm your sister, so let me help you."

Bella didn't know what to say. She broke down into tears, but she had no idea why. Her eyes were aching as if she really had cried all night, but she couldn't remember. She looked at her sister, who was looking at her, not with anger or fear or resentment, but with love and care. "I don't know what it is, Cissy, but surely if I want to forget there's a reason for that," she sobbed. Narcissa knelt down in front of her and hugged Bella tight.

"We can find out together. And then we can work it out together. What do you say, Bella?"

Bella knew that she had a serious decision to make. If she let Narcissa in, she might be putting her sister in danger, after all she had no idea what she would want to hide from herself. "Okay, Cissy, but we have to make some arrangements. Whatever it is that I have forgotten, there must be a reason for it. It might put you in danger if you know."

"Yes I understand that, Bella. And I'm willing to take that risk to help you."

"Thank you, Cissy, but we need to put some precautions in place. We need to make sure that we will not be discovered at any time while we do this. We need to protect ourselves, because if there is something that will put you in danger, nobody but the two of us can know about it."

"Okay Bella, let's go up to the attic. We can put silencing charms on the room, like you did last night, and I have a sneaky spell which will stop anyone being able to find us using magic. Using one of our rooms will be too dangerous, as if the doors are locked, someone will expect us to be in there. The attic is always locked anyway, so if anyone does look for us, they will not guess that we are up there. How does that sound?"

Bella was surprised at her sister's readiness with this plan. It was almost as if she had been planning to ask Bella about this for a while and had prepared for her to say yes. She also wondered what spell would stop them being discovered by magic. There was no spell that she knew of that could do this. After all these years, her sister still managed to surprise her. "That sounds good," she managed to sob out. Narcissa nodded, and went to the drawing room door.


	17. The plan

"We are alone in the house at the moment, so nobody will see us going upstairs," Narcissa said. Bella knew this to be true – Lucius and Draco had gone out into the garden to do something for the Dark Lord, who was out somewhere, and nobody else was staying in Malfoy Manor at the moment. The sisters walked quickly up the stairs to the attic at the top of the house. Bella went up first. "You do the silencing charms, Bella, and I'll stop anyone being able to discover us." Bella complied. By the time she had finished, Narcissa was sat on a sofa that Bella was sure wasn't usually in the attic. Bella sat next to her sister. "Are you ready?" Narcissa asked. Bella nodded. Narcissa raised her wand, and it all came flooding back to Bella. Everything that she had made herself forget, and why. She looked up at her sister, who looked shocked. Bella began to cry again, and Narcissa pulled her in close, allowing Bella to sob on her shoulder. Even in her distraught state, Bella realised that she had never been held like this. She had never been hugged as she cried, feeling as though all of her problems were being lifted off of her. Bella didn't know how long she sat crying into Narcissa, but eventually she stopped, pulled herself away from her sister, and wiped her eyes.

"Oh, Bella." Narcissa seemed to be unable to say any more, and she pulled Bella close again. This time Bella hugged her sister back, something that they hadn't done since they were young, and they stayed like that for a long time.

"What do we do, Cissy? What can I do? I can't stay being able to remember all of this. If the Dark Lord were ever to find out, he would kill you. He would kill Draco. He would kill all of you to get at me because of my betrayal."

"You have not betrayed him, Bella. You have done nothing to betray the Dark Lord."

"You know that isn't true, Cissy. If he knew that I blamed him for the person that I am, the deaths of Sirius and Regulus. If he knew that I wished he wasn't powerful, that he had never been born? He would kill you to get at me and then kill me as slowly as he could. You know that this is true. I may have been the Dark Lord's most trusted advisor for years, but you know as well as I do that that will mean nothing if this is discovered. I would rather die than allow him to hurt you to hurt me. I have caused the deaths of too many members of this family – I will not allow his to hurt you, Cissy!"

"Bella, get a grip on yourself. Do you know how long you have been doing this for? Remembering and then modifying your memory?" Bella shook her head – she had no idea. "You've been doing it for more than a year! Ever since we went to see Severus Snape in Spinners End almost two years ago. If the Dark Lord had suspected something, he would have got it out of you by now. If he suspected that you were hiding something, he would have been able to perform Legilimency and see your real memories, even though you modified them extremely well. Now the real issue is what we are going to do to help you. You cannot live the rest of your life like this, Bella."

"Why not, Cissy? Why not? According to you, I have been doing this for nearly two years, so why can I not continue like this for the rest of my life?"

"Because, Bella, it isn't healthy. I can see it now – you are making yourself ill by modifying your memories so regularly. That's another reason – you are modifying your memories more and more frequently, as if there are more triggers to make you remember. What happens if you start to remember, and you are with the Dark Lord? What happens if you cannot lock yourself away to modify your memory? What happens if because of this, the Dark Lord finds out? Then he really will punish you, Bella. He will have no mercy, and you know it. If he found out that you regret what you did to the Longbottoms, that you feel guilty about Regulus' death, that you didn't mean to kill Sirius, that you want to protect your family more than you want to serve him, I think we both know what he will do. He will go on such a rampage and kill everyone that you care about Bella, so we need to come up with a plan. We need to work out what Potter is doing, because he is working to destroy the Dark Lord, is he not? If we can somehow come up with a plan to help him succeed, then you need not worry anymore Bella. None of the other Death Eaters need to know that we conspire against the Dark Lord. It can be our secret. Now, you are a superb Occlumens, you are the Dark Lord's most trusted and most faithful servant, so I doubt that he would suspect anything if you were to practice Occlumency whilst you are around him. The question is whether you believe that you are strong enough to handle having the burden of knowing how you truly feel without allowing the Dark Lord to suspect anything. This would mean acting as you usually do, essentially portraying madness without letting it consume you, killing people on a whim, not showing displeasure at the idea of killing or anything else that would give you away. You need to think really carefully about this Bella. Do you think you can handle that? Alternatively, once we have a workable plan, I could perform a Memory Charm on you so that you do not remember how you truly feel. You would be the most secret of secret agents Bella; you will not even remember that you are on the other side until the time comes to act. Do you think you can cope with that? Not knowing that you are actually working for the other side? Not knowing that we are working to bring about the end of the Dark Lord? The choice is entirely yours, and I will support you no matter which you choose, however I think that you must know that if I perform the Memory Charm on you, it is unlikely to break unless I remove it. You are an extraordinarily powerful witch, Bella, but it is my experience that Memory Modifications performed on oneself tend to weaken over time, whereas those performed by another do not. If we go into battle, as I suspect we might, I may not be able to remove the modification. It may be possible to perform a Memory Charm that will break at a certain point, say for example if I am in danger, but I cannot be certain – I know that hypothetically it is possible, however I have never actually performed one and we do not have time for mistakes. If you choose for me to perform a Memory Modification on you, Bella, you must be aware that you might do something which you regret. You might hurt someone, you might even kill, and I would not be able to stop you. I wish I could tell you something different, but I think you must know all of the facts before you make your decision about which of your three choices you choose. Obviously you can mull over and decide while we come up with the plan, but you do need to make a decision, as this is one that I cannot do for you. It must be you, and only you, who makes this decision.

Bella sat and thought for a while. She knew that it would be extremely hard for her to continue living if she knew about her true feelings, but dare she risk a Memory Modification so powerful that she might live to do something she regretted?

They sat and talked over various ways that they could make this work. Bella knew that she needed to forget everything, but that she also needed to protect her family. She knew that forgetting was the most likely way that she would succeed in saving her family from the Dark Lord, but that it was also dangerous as she would not be able to stop herself doing something that she might remorse. Bella gulped. She knew that once they had a plan, Narcissa would perform a perfect Memory Charm and she would remember nothing until the right time. She nodded slowly. "I can do it. If it will save you, I will do anything! But what about you, Cissy? You won't be able to do a Memory Charm on yourself, will you? Not if we have a plan to destroy the Dark Lord?"

"Don't worry about me, Bella. You know that I am a natural Occlumens and Legilimens – I was born with the ability – I didn't learn it like you or the Dark Lord. That makes my ability to block out the Dark Lord more powerful than his ability to read my mind. Incidentally, it would make my ability to read his mind a lot stronger too! I promise you that he will never be able to read me. He will not find out about our plan from me. Okay?" Bella nodded. "Then let's get to work!"

The sisters sat in the attic in Malfoy Manor for what felt like hours. They tried to work out the best way to bring down the Dark Lord. "Well that must be what Potter and his friends are doing too! Working to bring the Dark Lord down." was the point that they kept coming back to. If only there was a way to find out what they were doing. Why had they gone to Bella's vault in Gringotts? Why had they taken Hufflepuff's cup? Why had they taken the Sword of Gryffindor? What was so important about those two objects that they would risk death to get them? The sisters tried to remember everything that had happened in the past year – to see if there were any connections between the various events – but they couldn't work out what the trio were up to. They had broken into the Ministry of Magic, but it seemed that they had taken nothing except the eye of Mad-Eye Moody, they had gone to the Lovegood's house but nothing seemed to have happened as a result of their visit, and they had gone to Godric's Hollow to see Bathilda Bagshot. None of these events seemed to be linked in anyway apart from that at each of them, the trio had nearly been caught! How many places had they been to where they had been more successful in staying hidden? Why had they gone to these places? What was the big picture that both sisters were missing? Suddenly Narcissa remembered something that Lucius had told her. "He said that the Dark Lord said that he had gone further than any wizard before on the path to immortality, or words to that effect anyway. What does this mean Bella?"

"I am not sure, Cissy. How does one make oneself truly immortal? Not the Philosopher's Stone because it can be stolen or destroyed, and anyway other wizards have succeeded in making a Philosopher's Stone. It would have to be really complex magic to make yourself immortal."

The two sisters sat in silent contemplation for some time, pondering how someone could make themselves immortal. They racked their brains, but couldn't come up with any ideas. "Cissy, I'm not sure if we are going to work this out … I think we need to start looking for a different angle …" her words seemed to trail away as though she were latching onto a thought and letting it form in her mind. "Horcrux" she whispered.

"What?" Narcissa asked, clearly puzzled as to what Bella meant.

"It was something I heard at Hogwarts once. I was in my first year, but I overheard some seventh years talking in the common room. Dumbledore had taken over as Headmaster from Armando Dippet when they were in their second year, but they remembered some of the older students talking about it. They were trying to work out what they were, but Dumbledore had taken all of the books about Horcruxes out of the library, and they had been in the Restricted Section to begin with! If Dumbledore removed them from the library, that must mean that they used extremely dark magic that he didn't think students should have access to."

"Oh, Bella, that sounds promising doesn't it?"

"The question is what exactly is a horcrux? If this is what the Dark Lord did, and Potter and his friends are hunting, then how do they make a person immortal? How can they be destroyed? And how many did the Dark Lord manage to make?"

The two sisters sat in silence while they each tried to work out a plan.

"Maybe," Narcissa said after a few minutes, "the best plan that we could come up with is just to help the trio if we happen to cross their path. I don't think that we should actively look for them to help them, as that would be suspicious, but a gentle nudge if we happen to stumble across them shouldn't be noticeable."

"I guess you're right, Cissy, but what if we're with the Dark Lord and come across them? I won't be able to help as I won't remember our plan. What if I accidentally do something detrimental, and ruin the whole thing?" Bella was getting nervous now. Not because she was actively plotting to betray the Dark Lord, but because she might mess up the whole plan.

"Well, we wouldn't be able to help the trio in front of the Dark Lord anyway, and I might be able to help you to not hurt them without the Dark Lord knowing."

"How?" Bella asked.

"Give me your wand quickly."

"Why?"

"Just do it, Bella!"

Bella did as she was told, and gave Narcissa her wand. She got her own wand out and murmured a spell that Bella did not recognise. She wondered briefly how many spells her sister had made up.

"There" Narcissa said as she gave Bella her wand back.

"What did you do?" Bella asked in awe.

"I simply added a charm, which will make any spell directed at one of the trio miss. Only very slightly, but any spell you cast will miss."

"That's brilliant Cissy!" Bella breathed. Narcissa just smiled in reply. They sat for a few more minutes in silence before they both realised they should probably go back down into the house, now that they had a plan. The Dark Lord had not returned and Lucius and Draco were still outside. No one had noticed their absence. It had all gone exactly as they had hoped.


	18. Back to Hogwarts

They didn't hear anything from the Dark Lord until the next evening. He had apparated into the drawing room and seen Bella sat on the armchair by the fire instantly. "We have to go. Call the other Death Eaters here NOW!" Bella had done as he had asked, pressing the Dark Mark on her most of the Death Eaters had assembled, which took mere minutes, the Dark Lord addressed them all. "There will likely be a battle tonight. We will go to Hogwarts – Potter is going to be there. We will not go into battle immediately though – we will give the school time to surrender him, so gather as many people as you can who will fight with us, and meet me at the school at half past ten tonight. That gives you three hours. DO NOT BE LATE!" He watched as they began to disaparated but gave Bella a look that she knew well. It was one telling her to stay as he had something else to tell her. Every one of the Death Eaters who had assembled in the Malfoy's drawing room had gone now – Bella knew that Narcissa was somewhere in the house – she didn't have a Dark Mark, so was not obligated to join them at such times. "I need you to come with me, Bella. I trust you. You have been faithful to me since you joined my cause, so I need you with me tonight." Bella nodded.

"Shall I tell Narcissa about the plan, my Lord?" she asked tentatively. He was in such a constant rage nowadays that the slightest thing might provoke him.

"Yes. Tell her to meet us at half past ten with the others. Do it quickly though, we need to move!" Bella nodded again and hurried out of the room. She found Narcissa in the dining room, eating her dinner. She quickly explained what had just happened, and that Narcissa should meet them at half past ten at Hogwarts. Narcissa asked no questions, just nodded and agreed to meet them. Bella hurried back to join the Dark Lord in the drawing room. "We need to get a message to Snape and the Carrow's – that is where we are going now." He held out a hand, she took it, and they apparated to the boundary line of Hogwarts, opened the gates with winged-boars on them and began to walk towards the front doors of the castle. Snape met them at the door.

"How may I help you my Lord?" he asked.

"You need to let Alecto into Ravenclaw tower." The Dark Lord said simply. "Potter is going to come here tonight, and I need you and the Carrow's to be ready when he does." Snape just nodded and opened the doors wide to let them in.

As they walked through the castle, Bella noticed how unnaturally quiet it was, given that it was only eight o'clock in the evening.

The Dark Lord seemed to have noticed too. "Where is everyone, Snape?" he asked quietly.

"The children are all in their dormitories – they now have seven o'clock curfew, so they go straight to their common rooms after dinner. The staff who are not on patrol also have orders to remain in their quarters."

"Good, good." The Dark Lord muttered. "Where are the Carrow's?"

"They are on duty tonight, so they were patrolling, however, I called them into the staff room when our Dark Marks burned, in case you wished to speak to us here." Snape replied.

The Dark Lord simply nodded in reply. Bella didn't trust Snape. She hadn't done for years, but the Dark Lord trusted him, so there was nothing she could do. Snape had been leading them down various corridors, and finally they had arrived at the staff room. They all walked in. The Carrow's were the only two people sat in the room, but they stood up as the three of them walked in. The Dark Lord sat, which the rest of them took as an invitation to do likewise, and he began to talk. Twenty minutes later, Snape and Alecto had hurried off to find Professor Flitwick, so that he could open Ravenclaw Tower and let her guard from inside. Amycus had orders to begin patrolling the corridors again, so he left the staff room too. All of them had orders to press their Dark Marks if they captured Potter. It was just Bella and the Dark Lord left in the staff room.

"Are you alright, my Lord?" she asked him cautiously.

"No, Bella, I am not." Bella was taken aback – she hadn't expected a reply like that. "Tonight is going to go one of two ways, and although I have my hopes, I could not tell you what the outcome will be." Bella was even more surprised at this statement than the previous one! He sounded as if he was potentially going to die tonight. But that was impossible. He had survived the rebounding Killing Curse sixteen years ago, so what could possibly cause him to be fearing for his life? "We shall go back to Malfoy Manor to wait." He said simply. She took his hand and they disaparated.


	19. The battle begins

It was time. It was twenty-five minutes past ten, and the Dark Lord wanted to be waiting for his Death Eaters when they arrived at Hogwarts in five minutes time. They disaparated again. They stood outside the gates, waiting for everyone who was going to join them in the fight. After a few minutes, people began to appear all around them. The Dark Lord put his wand to his throat, said "Sonorus" and began to address the school. "I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill any magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you shall be rewarded. You have until midnight." He muttered "Quietus" and his voice stopped being amplified. "Now we wait for them to make their decision" He said quietly. As they waited, they were joined by more and more people, including someone with the news that some giants were on their way to help. Bella was a little apprehensive now – she didn't think that Potter would give up as easily as this, not when he had so clearly been on a mission to do something that might destroy the Dark Lord. Whatever mission it was, it had scared the Dark Lord, so it must be extremely important to Potter. This meant that they were going to have to fight, and she hadn't been in a proper duel since that night at the Ministry. She wasn't sure how she would cope if she had to duel, for although Narcissa's Memory Charm was powerful, it only replaced her own and she had purposefully left in a little of the guilt about that night at the Ministry, and therefore had deep misgivings about having to duel tonight, even though she did not understand why.

The next hour and a half passed slowly as they waited for some sign that Potter was going to give himself up. There was none. Bella looked at her watch. It was one minute to midnight. They would begin to fight soon. Midnight. The Dark Lord turned around and said "they have not given up Potter. We shall begin the fight. But whatever you do, do nothing to Potter. He is mine." He turned around again, and began to fire spells at the protective barriers that the teachers had clearly put in place around the school. The battle was afoot. Time skipped and jumped as the battle wore on – Bella was unaware of her surroundings, only the duels that she was participating in. She was now duelling Tonks again, how remiss of the last time she had duelled. But she was much less of herself than she had been that night – the repeated Memory Modifications that she did not remember had contributed to this. She no longer considered Tonks to be family, especially since her marriage to the werewolf, Lupin. Well the last time, Sirius had died despite her best efforts to keep him alive, so why should she try to spare anyone this time. It seemed to her that if she didn't kill, others would do it instead, and they might even kill her for showing mercy. Tonks was down. Bella was not sure what spells she had been casting – she had been so focused on her memories that she had been duelling without paying attention. She was not sure whether Tonks was dead or alive, but she was down, so Bella moved on. She must have been duelling for quite some time, as when she came to her senses, there were bodies scattered all around the grounds of the castle. She had come to because there was a loud voice reverberating around the air.

"You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. You have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Bella looked around. All of the duels had ceased whilst the Dark Lord had spoken, and now the Death Eaters were beginning to retreat towards the Forbidden Forest. She followed them. They made their way through the forest, without really knowing where they were going, but there was so many of them that they knew they would find the Dark Lord soon. After about ten minutes, Bella saw a flash of firelight through the trees, and made her way towards it. Several Death Eaters were already there, including Narcissa, as was the Dark Lord. He nodded at her but said nothing. After about five more minutes, the majority of their side had arrived in the clearing.

"This was where the Acromantula lived. I have sent them to the castle to join our fight. I will send some of you to search the Forest soon, and if you see Potter, you are to bring him to me here. You must not harm him." The Death Eaters looked at the Dark Lord and nodded. None of them said anything. They were soon joined by Dementors, which made Bella's skin crawl. She did not want to be near them. They would weaken her even more than she already had been. The Dark Lord sent them into the forest, so they moved out of the clearing that they were stood in. Bella stayed close to the Dark Lord, awaiting instructions, but secretly hoping that he would allow her to remain in the safety of the clearing. They had been stood waiting for about twenty minutes, when the Dark Lord started to send pairs of Death Eaters out to search. Potter had twenty minutes left to show himself before they began the fight again. Bella was still not convinced that the boy would show himself. She was sure that he had a mission to complete, and that would be his priority. She said nothing of her suspicions to the Dark Lord however, as she did not want to be on the receiving end of his wand again. More time passed. Several of the pairs had returned, saying that they had not seen Potter. Five minutes were left. Yaxley and Dolohov were the only two still searching the Forest. Two minutes left. Yaxley and Dolohov appeared, but Potter was not with them.

"No sign of him, my Lord," Said Dolohov. The Dark Lord did not change his expression at these words.

"My Lord –" Bella said tentatively. He raised his hand to silence her. She stopped talking at once.

"I thought he would come. I expected him to come. I was, it seems … mistaken." The Dark Lord said.

"You weren't." Bella looked around. It was Potter. He must have been under his Invisibility Cloak, as he had just appeared at the edge of the clearing. She gasped. Others laughed.

"HARRY! NO!" it was the half-giant who had shouted this time. "NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT'RE YEH –?"

"QUIET!" Rowle shouted at him, pointing his wand at his chest and clearly casting a Silencing Charm. The half-giant was silenced.

Bella realised that she was on her feet, but did not remember standing up. She looked from the Dark Lord to the boy and back again, eager to see what his move would be now that the boy was his.

"Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived" The Dark Lord said. He raised his wand and a jet of green light shot at the boy, hitting him in the chest. He crumpled. At the same time, the Dark Lord collapsed too. Bella rushed to his side.

"My Lord … my Lord …" she said, the panic rising inside her. How had this happened? What could the boy possibly have done to hurt the Dark Lord? He hadn't even been holding his wand. "My Lord …"

"That will do" the Dark Lord said. Bella was kneeling on the ground beside him. All of the other Death Eaters had backed away when the Dark Lord spoke.

"My Lord, let me –" Bella said anxiously. He shook her off.

"I do not require assistance. The boy … is he dead?" The Dark Lord said coldly. None of the Death Eaters moved towards the boy. Bella was about to when the Dark Lord pointed his wand at Narcissa. She shrieked with pain. "Examine him. Tell me whether he is dead." Narcissa moved forwards, crouched down and examined the boy. The clearing was completely silent as she checked for a pulse.

"He is dead!" Narcissa called back. Bella breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever the boys plan had been, it had not worked. He had failed. He was dead.

"You see?" the Dark Lord screeched. "Harry Potter is dead by my hand, and no man alive can threaten me now! Watch! Crucio!" The boys body lifted off of the ground, and he fell and was lifted up again three times. The last time he fell, the Dark Lord left him there. Bella began to laugh, as did the other Death Eaters. He was dead! "Now, we go to the castle, and show them what has become of their hero. Who shall drag the body? No – Wait –" the Dark Lord pointed his wand at the half-giant. "You carry him. He will be nice and visible in your arms, will he not? Pick up your little friend, Hagrid. And the glasses – put on the glasses – he must be recognisable –"

Hagrid was crying as he was released from the ropes that bound him, and he made his way towards the boy. Someone, presumably Narcissa, had placed his glasses back on his face. Hagrid picked him up. The boy lay limp and motionless in his arms. Hagrid continued to cry.

"Come." The Dark Lord said to them. Nagini, his snake, was around his shoulders, and he began to make his way forward. Bella was beginning to feel numb again. She wasn't sure why though. She didn't care for the boy. She wasn't even related to him, as far as she was aware. So why did the fact that he was laying lifeless in the half-giants' arms seem to affect her so much? They had made their way through the forest now, with Hagrid leading the way. "Stop." The Dark Lord said. They all obeyed. Bella could see the castle now – they had come out of the Forest.


	20. After the battle

"NO!" someone from the castle shouted. Looking up, Bella could see that a crowd had gathered at the entrance, and Professor McGonagall was looking in horror at the sight of Potter in Hagrid's arms. It was she who had cried out.

More voices began to call out. "NO!"

"No!"

"Harry! HARRY!"

The rest of the crowd began to shout at the Death Eaters. Bella could not make out what they were saying, but she knew that they would not be pleasant things.

"SILENCE!" it was the Dark Lord who had spoken, and he had clearly cast a Silencing Charm, as the sound stopped immediately. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs! You see? Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!" The Dark Lord was enjoying this, Bella could tell. He had been waiting for a long time to finally kill the boy, and now he got to show this to the whole of Hogwarts. To all of the boys friends.

"He beat you!" Someone from the crowd shouted. Bella wondered how he had done it. He had been magically silenced by the Dark Lord, so how was he speaking now? The rest of them began to shout again. The Dark Lord cast another Silencing Charm, and the noise stopped abruptly.

"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds, killed while trying to save himself –" The Dark Lord said to the assembled group of fighters. He was cut off by Longbottom running forward, as if to duel him. The Dark Lord disarmed him easily, and laughed. "And who is this? Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

Bella laughed. "It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?" Bella prompted him.

"Ah, yes, I remember. But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?"

"So what if I am?" The boy said loudly and defiantly.

"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."

"I'll join you when hell freezes over. Dumbledore's Army!" The boy shouted. Many of the crowd surrounding him cheered.

"Very well, if that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head, be it." The Dark Lord said this extremely quietly, and Bella knew that his quiet voice was the most dangerous. It meant imminent pain. The Dark Lord waved his wand, and Bella saw the Sorting Hat fly down from one of the broken castle windows. The Dark Lord caught it. "There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School. There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?" He pushed the hat onto Longbottoms head. "Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me." He flicked his wand, and the hat burst into flames. Longbottom screamed.

Bella was unsure why seeing this made her feel so uncomfortable. Then she remembered. She remembered that she had tortured his parents and regretted it. She remembered what she had done to protect her family, but she had almost certainly killed Tonks. By modifying her memory, she had done the very thing that she had been trying to prevent. She had caused the death of another family member. It was all her fault. She realised that the Memory Charm that Narcissa had cast had broken. This was obviously the right time for it to break, but she could not understand why. She realised that the Memory Charms had made herself become less of herself. She didn't know what she meant by this thought, but it also made sense. She was not the unemotional and careless person that everyone expected her to be. She cared. She really cared, and regretted her actions since the age of fifteen when she hadn't stood up to Sirius' parents for him. He had only been seven! She suddenly became madder than she had ever been, thinking that she didn't care if she died now. She realised that she could not continue to live like this, modifying her memory whenever she realised that the Dark Lord was wrong. But then she remembered the plan. She and Narcissa had a plan to bring down the Dark Lord. She glanced at her sister, and the look in her eyes made Bella suddenly realise the truth. The boy was not actually dead.

At the same moment, Neville suddenly free from the Body Bind Curse, jumped forward. He was still holding Gryffindor's sword. Bella realised that Nagini had slithered from the Dark Lord's shoulders and had been making her way towards the school, readying herself for the fight that was surely to recommence at any moment. She did not have the chance to do anything as Neville suddenly swung the sword up and cut off her head.

Many things began to happen at once. "HARRY! HARRY! WHERE'S HARRY?" Bella heard the giant shout. The crowd also began to shout again, a giant came around the side of the castle shouting "HAGGER" and there seemed to be more cries coming from the boundary walls. The giants that were fighting on their side roared and ran at the lone giant. All Bella knew after that was chaos. She was shooting spells all around her, not caring who she hit. She ran at the school. She suddenly knew that the Dark Lord must be nearing his defeat, why else would the Longbottom boy have been so determined to kill the snake. She had looked into his eyes at the exact moment that the sword hit, and she had seen something in them. The move had been quite deliberate on his part – he knew that killing the snake would have an impact on the battle. Bella suddenly realised that the snake must have been a horcrux and that the sword had been able to kill it. Now she understood why the trio had needed the sword.

She was in the great hall, but was unsure how she had got there. She became aware that she was duelling three people at the same time. She had fought all of them before. There was Granger who she had tortured at Malfoy Manor, and the two girls who had been with Potter that fateful night at the Ministry two years ago. People were falling all around her. She did not know nor care who they were. She knew that the Dark Lord must be defeated soon. Somehow she knew that the snake must have been his last horcrux and that the only thing left to do was for someone to kill him. She breathed freely for what felt like the first time in forever. Her family was safe from the Dark Lord now. There was only one thing left for her to do. She aimed a Killing Curse so that it would just miss the blood traitor. The Weasley girl. She had aimed well - it missed her by less than an inch.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" The girl's mother had pushed her aside, and was ready to duel. "OUT OF MY WAY!" She shouted at the other two girls. Bella was delighted. This was exactly what she wanted to happen. She was looking forward to this duel, not because she thought she would win, but because it would be believable for her to lose. And that was all she wanted right now. She didn't want to live like this anymore, modifying her memory on a more and more frequent basis. He only regret was that she would not be able to say goodbye to Narcissa. They began; both knew that only one of them would make it out of this fight, but only Bella knew that she would be the one to loose. Some students ran forward as if to help the woman. Bella laughed, not because she relished the added challenge, but because but Mrs. Weasley shouted "No! Get back! Get back! She is mine!" Bella suddenly became aware that the other duels had finished. The only people who were still fighting were herself, and the Dark Lord. Hundreds of people were watching their duels.

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you? When mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?" Bella knew that this would taunt Mrs. Weasley, so that perhaps the motherly fierceness that she had seen in Narcissa might burst out of Mrs. Weasley, and end the duel.

"You – will – never – touch – our – children – again!" Mrs. Weasley screamed at her. Bella simply laughed – she knew that her time was coming, and was glad. She was no longer living a lie. She realised that Sirius had laughed the same laugh just before she Stunned him that final and deadly time. For the briefest of moments, Bella wondered what lie he had been living under before Mrs. Weasley made a complicated movement with her wand. Bella just had time to register that she hadn't been hit by the Killing Curse - it had been something else - before everything went black.


End file.
